What went Wrong?
by thisME
Summary: What is true happiness? Bella sets out to find and discovers love,A LOT of betrayal and stress down the road. What happens when the past comes back to haunt her? Will she ever find what she wants in life?// OOC TO THE MAX //Read at your own risk !
1. Chapter 1

Stephenie Meyer owns these people.

**Proceed with Caution.**

This isn't that typical type of story ( eg. Boy and Girl fall in love and live happily ever after)

This story is about love, betrayal and finding out what true happiness really is.

The ending will not be pretty, but it'll be appropriate and served with a purpose.

If you're not into these types, I suggest you stop reading here, and find something else you'll enjoy.

It's rated **M** for a reason and contains Mature Subject Matter. If you can't stop giggling at the mention of the word "boobies", I'm also pretty sure this story is not for you.

Those who wish to continue, I wish you the best of luck, because this story will be a hell of a ride.

* * *

"I thought we were happy. Weren't we happy?"

"Very happy."

"So where did we go wrong? Did _I_ do something wrong? What do you want me to change? I'll change."

"It's not that Bella."

"Then what is it?"

" . . . Jessica's pregnant."

There was a time in Bella's life when she felt she was confident she knew _true_ happiness. It was the kind of happiness that seeped into her under belly and gushed out in her bouts of smile and laughter. It was also the kind of happiness that was only attained because of all her hard work combined with her good deeds. She never asked for much except the two essential intangible things humans all want: _love_ and _happiness_. Although Bella always knew that there would be some backlash because she received so much love and happiness at once, she just never thought it would light fire to her heart and burn it into something resembling black, crispy _tar_.

Bella had a _great_ job, _awesome_ friends, _caring_ family, and a _perfect_ boyfriend.

Those things were spawns from the benefits of being the all-around person that she was. Bella prayed to God every night, went to Church whenever she had free time, never killed insects or bugs, and never cursed. She was the girl that took one step back to let someone else go forward; she was the kind of girl that held two helping hands to elders; she was the kind of girl that stalked the homeless and abandoned children shelter whenever she could.

Bella was the epitome of the word _nice_; the very essence and body of the word. She believed that the yin/yang of life was necessary for a peaceful balance of a happy outcome, but sometimes – the yang outweighed the yin. Yet, Bella believed religiously in the good things; the lighter areas of life rather than the malevolence things covered in darkness. Evil people were just lost and needed to be guided to the light; good people overshadowed them _anyhow_.

_She believed in all of those things_ until on their third anniversary day Edward sat across from her with his upset eyes when he told her that he had cheated.

_Bella had believed in all of those things _until Edward admitted that Jessica was the girl he had cheated on Bella with. Bella_ had believed in all of those things _until Edward told her Jessica was pregnant with _his_ baby.

Then, Bella stopped _believing in all those things_.

But Bella was still foolish.

One could stop believing in the blink of an eye, but foolishness takes a longer time to scrub off.

Thus, Bella was the one that _begged Edward _to stay with her.

She was the one that insisted that she would forgive him if he stayed. She was the one that was _willing_ to forgive him. Bella took the fault for Edward's infidelity even though inside she knew she had nothing to do with it. It was Edward's promiscuous ways that had ripped their relationship into infinitesimal tears. But poor Bella, Edward had no intentions of staying with her even after all her _begging_ and hopeful _promises_.

Instead, Edward had wrapped her up in his arms, whispering, "I'm sorry. ", over and over again as he explained to her that he had to take responsibility for what he and Jessica had done. At the end of the sob-fest (the sobbing entirely done by Bella) Edward suggested Bella move out of the apartment they shared so that Jessica could move in. "It would be best for the baby," he said.

Poor Bella had to drag her five suitcases out to the bus stop in the pouring rain that very same night. Edward had told her he loved her before she left, even giving her a sweet kiss on the forehead at their tearful goodbye (the tears entirely provided by Bella) Edward said he was sorry their relationship had to end this way, but it had to happen. "It would best for the baby," he said. It was the perfect scene for a movie, but living it for Bella was too much to bear.

Poor Bella as she stood crying while she confronted Jessica, her best friend since grade school. Jessica managed a small apology before adding, "I'm sorry**,** Bella. It's just – this will be best for the baby. I can't image raising a child without its father."

Because she was a good person, because in her _dictionary of happiness_, she knew that sacrificing her own happiness for others to be happy would be "happiest" thing to do of all. So Bella had to walk away from a relationship that she had laboured to build (every thought, every memory, every inside joke) as if she hadn't put any effort into it at all. It's strange how it takes two to enter a relationship, but one walks out just a heartbreak mess.

Bella had walked away silently, convinced by Jessica's tears, feeling sorry for being _so_ selfish about wanting Edward.

After all, "it was best for the baby."

But poor Bella.

No one felt sorry for her.

When love _blindfolds_ someone so much, when love _only_ cares about what matters and not reality, and when loves finally dies, _what is left over _turns into bitter _anger_ and _resentment_. It's dangerous when what was once _happy_, beautiful, _forever_ love suddenly becomes _scorned _love. It can ravage and change a person to the world's end.

And in Bella's case – it ravaged her so much so that she died, falling 1,000 feet to reality from the cloud nine she was on. When she finally hit the ground, just like everything else when it falls from such a height – she was flatten and _scarred_. Her dictionary that defined happiness was food for reality and digested in its intestines. Reality slapped her in the face and raped her – over and _over_ again.

**Two years **after Bella carried her five suitcases out of Edward's apartment building, she can now be found in another.

_A lot_ has happened in two years.

Bella isn't that _nice_ girl anymore.

Bella threw out the words: kind, patient, and bubbly to replace them with: promiscuous, tainted, and nonchalance. That's why Bella is hardly recognizable now, even by her own self. All her wonderful assumptions, of how relationships and love walked hand-in-hand, was thrown out of the window and savagely drowned in an ocean somewhere. Now, all her assumptions were more like sharp perception and tainted hooks.

**On February 14**, exactly two years to the day Edward broke up with her, one might find that Bella isn't dwelling in her never-ending tears.

Instead, she's dwelling in arms – _lots_ of different arms.

The room Bella is temporarily dwelling in was giving her a headache, due to the strong alcoholic drinks she had drank the night before to live up to the hype of February 14. The room was also pitch-black except for the drawn curtains, displaying speckles of city lights from the buildings outside of the window. Red, blue, green, yellow – all of the colors of the rainbow were present. It was a spectrum suited for the day after February 14th.

It was also known as Single-Awareness day.

But Bella was anything **but** single.

The silk covers felt cold against her naked body, mildly messing with her body temperature. Bella rolled over onto her side to listen to the distinctive sprinkles of water coming from the open shower door across the room.

The hotel room had the distinct aroma of sweat, sex, and _something else._

He was taking a shower. Guy #3 this week.

Knowing that she had to move fast, Bella still idly dragged herself out of bed. Allowing her long, ebony black hair to fall simultaneously on her naked shoulders, she started to roam around the dark room looking for what she needed. When the heel of her right foot caught the four-inch stilettos, Bella gripped the bottom of the bed. Languidly, her fingers roamed across mattress and met the fabric of the expensive chiffon dress she had worn last night.

Along with her dress and shoes, Bella started to get dress in the dark –

At the sound of a door slamming to a close – guy #3 came out of the shower. With soap across his eyes and his naked chest glistening with water particles, he squinted back into the Hotel room. He stood staring at the vacant bed with its bedcovers falling messily around its side. Reaching up to scratch through his wet hair, he let out an annoyed sigh.

She had left _already_.

*** * * * **

As Bella stepped inside the Hotel elevator, watching the golden doors with white flowers design on them close, she smiled at her reflection looking back at her. Running her hands through her hair, Bella drew a hair-tie around them, choking them into a ponytail. "Wait a minute – he wasn't guy #3. He's actually guy #4."

Bella had developed an obsession with referring to them as numbers.

But how easy it was for her to lose count _now_.

* * *

What do you think?


	2. Chapter 2

Stephenie Meyer owns it all.

* * *

There used to be five of them; five _good_ friends.

The main members were Bella, Jessica, and Alice. And over time, middle-school and high-school, they picked up Rosalie and Angela. The five girls did everything together – shopping, gossiping, parties, clubs, birthdays, girls-night-out. However, they weren't your _typical_ clique with over zealous means of high maintenance, pedicure nails, and drama. In fact, they _were_ the alter-egos to those cliques.

Alice was the most ambitious out of all the girls. After studying for four years and receiving her bachelor's degree in Pharmaceutical medicine, she had transferred to medical school. Hoping to become a Pediatrician, Alice started her first year at University with high hopes.

Rosalie was the kindest and simplest out of all the girls. Her love for children was boundless and she was in her last year at University before receiving her degree. Her dream was to teach Kindergarteners because it was best to have them at that age. Her and her lovable boyfriend, Emmett, had been together for five years and was planning their lavish wedding.

Angela was the most talented of the group. After getting a record deal with EMI records, Angela released her first album and was on a high from making it to mainstream music. Noted for her soft ballads and sweet voice, Angela was destined to reach instant stardom.

Jessica was the liveliest of the group. In a way, she was their leader. She was the one that always organized their parties and girls-night-outs. The rest of the girls would flock to her for advice and Jessica would always return some-kind of wise input. Her subtle sense of humor and language made her the most trusted member.

Bella was the quietest of the group; the nicest of the group. Although her personality fitted with Rosalie more, it was Jessica that was her best friend. When they say opposites attract, they don't just mean that in a man-woman relationship. What Bella lacked in personality, Jessica made up with for it. What Jessica lacked in basic human characteristics, Bella made up all of it.

They told each other _everything_ – so that's why her betrayal hurt Bella so much _so_.

Now, there's only four of them; four _good _friends two years later.

They had become _those_ cliques they were once alter-egos to.

They changed with age and experience.

Alice had dropped out of medical school after her first year due to its harsh demands. Now, she was a party coordinator at a new hotspot in New York City. She's the one that the group turns to for the latest gossip in their circle. Her instincts of being a Pediatrician didn't wash over just because she dropped out of medical school. In fact, it may have been the twisted reason why her newly developed obsession is dating younger guys.

Angela's first album didn't do so well and she caved under the pressure of preparing for a second album. Now, it is her partying ways that highlighted her career. _Now_, she is the life of all the parties she walked into.

Jessica had left.

Bella changed the most.

Only Rosalie stayed consistent – which is the reason why the day after February 14th, Alice, Angela, and Bella are all present at her bachelorette's party at Club Twilight's. In just a few weeks, according to plan, she is going to be marrying Emmett.

*** * * * **

"Shake it baby! Shake it! Shake! Shake! Shake!"

"What the hell?!Angela! Will you get down from there before you hurt yourself?!"

"Rosalie, you're no fun! Come on, get up here and shake with me now!"

"No!"

Through the shimmering glitz of the revolving dance globe lights from above, bright blue, pink, and green colored spectrums splashed all over their VIP area. Because the curtains were slightly parted, strangers who walked by the closed-off area were welcomed to the display of the rowdy and rather sloppy Bachelorette party.

"Look at them! Hahaha!" Making some-kind of snort underneath her nose as she settled down her Bacardi glass drink, Alice made a funny face. As she watched Angela pull Rosalie up on top of the booth table-top, she almost choked from laughter when Angela started freaking on a scared-looking Rosalie.

Sitting beside Alice with her calm self, Bella glanced up at the pair with no more interest than if she was looking at slugs. It was Angela's nature to go all out at clubs – nothing surprising anymore. Settling back in the exceptionally large VIP booth, Bella ignored how much the table was shaking in front of them. "Isn't this pitiful? Just the four of us."

"You know how Rosalie likes things simple. It's a miracle she _even_ agreed to come to a club for a Bachelorette party – a fucking week before she actually gets married," Alice replied. "Besides, I think it's enough that Angela's freaking her out."

Bella's eyes made a beeline back up to where Angela and Rosalie were. Over the loud pumps of the bass from the music, creating a cacophony symphony that spitted back out marred lyrics and beats, she could still tell that Angela was telling Rosalie to loosen up. She shook her hips against Rosalie's side while Rosalie was blushing madly and screaming, "I will NOT do that!"

Picking up her own glass of drink, still filled up to the rims with Hypnotic, Bella only took a sip. She was too tired to inundate her body with alcohol, so Bella wiped the corner of her mouth after the first sip and she was done. Sitting back into the booth again, feeling each pulse of the club music ringing through her ears, Bella felt drained.

Alice noticed. "Yah, what's wrong with you?"

"I need sleep," Bella groaned, running her hands down the front of her pink tube-top dress, bumping against some of the glitter.

"Oh yeah! You had that random date yesterday for Valentines Day. How was it?" Setting her drink back on the table, Alice turned her undivided attention to Bella all of a sudden.

Bella shrugged. "Not much to say. It was okay. Same old-same-old."

"How was he?" Alice went on, nudging Bella's side. "Come on, dish."

"Dish what?!"

"Gosh Angela, that was embarrassing!"

An air of Chanel and Christian Dior perfume mixed together and clashed in the open air Alice and Bella were enjoying when Angela came bouncing back down, pulling Rosalie with her too. Grinning as sweat ran down the side of her face, Angela grabbed Bella's Hypnotic glass and began drinking with thirst. She was already intoxicated and more alcohol was just fueling her craziness.

"I was asking Bella about her date," Alice replied, scooting over to make room for Rosalie.

"Bet she said, 'same-old-same-old'," Angela teased, nuzzling against Bella. Because she was wearing such a short and low-cut dress, Bella could feel the fake socks she had stuffed in her dress to make her breasts look bigger. "It's what Bella's been saying for the last two years ever since she started dating again."

"I do not," Bella protested. Then, looking at Alice and Rosalie, she added, "Do I?"

"Well –"  
"You kinda-do."

"You make it seem like I'm making a dating faux-pas on dating jargons. What about Alice?, she's always saying, 'delicious'," Bella pointed out.

"Hahaha! She does!" Angela giggled, leaning over to pinch Alice's cheeks. "He's _so_ delicious!"

"Well – if you all were dating a younger guy, you'd say the same thing," Alice scoffed. Handing her drink to Rosalie she said, "You can have mine. I just remembered I have to pick Seth up later tonight."

"Pedophile!" Angela pointed to Alice.

"Yah! Pedophile?! He's eighteen and legal, excuse you!" Alice reached out, trying to grab a giggling Angela.

"Why are you so into younger guys anyways?" Rosalie spoke up, pushing back long strands of her hair out of her eyes. "What makes them so special?"

Alice gave up on getting Angela, who was hiding behind Bella. Letting out a satisfied look, she took her drink back from Rosalie. Forgetting that she had just said she wasn't going to drink anymore,

Alice smiled. "Younger guys are just hot. They have this energy to them that older guys just don't have anymore you know? I mean, we could be at it for like eight hours and he wouldn't be tired. You don't just find guys like that anymore. It's becoming a trend. I swear, every time I smell that Ralph Lauren fragrance, I just break out in orgasms. It reminds me of him so much that I wouldn't mind calling myself his little slut and lay on my back for him. Seriously, he's _so_ hot. The way his lips trail down my neck and the way his arms just hold me in place. You guys should try it. "

"So we should all stake out at the local high school," Angela added, laughing. Taking another shot of Hypnotic, she stuck her tongue out at Alice. "That little boy has you wrapped around his little finger."

"Oh honey, it's NOT little," was Alice's reply.

"AHAHAHAHA! Good comeback!" Angela burst out laughing again.  
"Omo-" Bella gasped, letting out a laugh.

Rosalie was the only one disturbed. "Gosh, alcohol really does mess you guys up. Stop it, my virgin ears."

"Virgin ears, my ass. You're not gonna be a virgin in about a week. You're getting married!" Alice hollered. Getting up from her seat suddenly, she spun around to face the rest of the girls. Wearing a cute lacey white tank-top along with a black miniskirt – her eyes became crescent moons as she smiled. "What are we doing here, sitting? Let's party!"

"WOOT!" Angela jumped up, jerking Bella up along with her.

Making their way out of the VIP section, the four blindly led each other down the stairs of the upper west wing. When the dance floor was finally beneath their feet, Alice caught Bella's arms and pulled her into a rhythmic sync. While Angela started to freak Rosalie again, who was just rocking back and forth timidly, the music of the club picked up. From the pulsating hip-hop song, the beat picked up rhythm and dropped into a whining techno. The disco ball above spun wildly when everyone around them screamed along with the song. The flock of people tightened as the lights blinked furiously a rainbow of colors.

"Angela!" Alice pulled Angela around, and the four of them face each other. Dancing as a group was always fun.

"WHOO!" Rosalie suddenly let out an enjoyable scream. When the other three stared at her in surprise, she shrugged. "It's my last time partying as a single woman. Give it up!"

"YEAH!" Alice and Bella clapped, laughing so hard that it had taken so long for Rosalie to finally loosen up.

"Dude! If Jessica was here, it'd be so much crazier!" All of a sudden, Angela burst out.

"Let's get something to drink! I'm thirsty." Reaching out, Rosalie hastily covered Angela 's mouth almost instantly. Darting a glance at Alice, Rosalie flashed a smile at Bella. "Come on. Let's go."

"_Shit_, did I just say what I just said?" Angela could be heard asking Rosalie when the two disappeared into the dancing crowd, heading toward the bar.

"Hey, don't listen to her. She's already drunk off her ass. Come on!" Like the good friend that she was, Alice grabbed Bella's arm.

"What did she say? I didn't even hear – haha." Bella lied. She had to. Just hearing Jessica's name sparked so many nerves in her mind, killing her endorphins.

But that was what killed the party of Bella. She was done after that. Even though she danced to a couple more songs with Alice and some other random guys in the club, Bella still couldn't shake it out of her mind. It was like a thorn had stabbed her in the side and she needed special tweezers to get them out. Even after some strong Vodka shots, Bella was still bothered by it.

Around two in the morning, Alice had to leave. She had to pick up her precious Seth, so they went back to their VIP section to gather their things. After Angela and Rosalie had disappeared to the bar for drinks, they didn't return to the dance floor. But when Alice and Bella went back to the VIP section, they found out why.

With her head against the booth table, Angela was already knocked out. Rosalie was sitting next to her, red in the face and heaving into a red bowl. A guy was sitting next to her, holding her hair up for her.

"What the hell?" Alice said, walking over to Angela. " Mike. What happened?"

Bella looked at Alice in surprise. She knew the guy.

"They had too much to drink," the guy named Mike replied.

Even though Bella was intoxicated herself, she felt herself sobering up at the sight. Looking over to the guy next to Rosalie, she asked bluntly, "Who are you?"

"Emmett's friend," Rosalie groaned next to him. She looked up, her eyes red. "He's –"

"I was just passing by and saw them." Getting up from his seat, Mike smiled at Bella. He held out a hand for her to shake, rendering Bella under his charismatic charms. He had a dimple in his cheek when he smiled and his lips looked perfect to be nibbled on. Wearing a black sweatshirt and casual jeans with a Von Dutch hat, he was certainly undressed at a club like this. Yet, his hip-hop style made a loud statement.

He was taller than her with board shoulders; Bella bit her lip. She bet he had a killer body under all those clothes. Even with alcohol flowing in her system, Bella was still sober enough to know that her promiscuous needs were rearing their ugly heads.

"She's knocked out," Alice said, bringing Bella back to reality. Pulling Angela up, Alice displayed her exhausted face and half-closed eyes. "Yah, can you hear me?"

Angela nodded, barely moving her lips as she answered, "Ah, I feel like shit."

"I bet you do. Come on, I'll give you a ride home. Mike, can you help Rosalie?" Lifting Angela's right arm over her shoulder, Alice pulled her up.

"Give me a ride home too." Placing her puke-bowl back on the table, Rosalie got up and swayed.

"Whoa." Mike moved back, steadying her before she fell over. "You okay?"

Rosalie nodded. "I'm good."

Together, the five of them filed out of the club. While Alice and Bella supported Angela, who seemed to gain an extra ten pounds from the alcohol she had consumed, Mike followed behind them with Rosalie. It got really embarrassing when Angela slipped at the back exit of the club on their way out, and the socks that she had stuffed into her breasts fell out. As Bella gathered them up and helped Angela stuff them back in, Alice and Mike burst out laughing. But Angela was too knocked out to even know what was going on.

The night air felt good for all of them once they were finally out. Inside the club had been hot and sweaty, so the fresh air felt like heaven. After placing a sleeping Angela into the back of Alice's Lexus, Bella offered to take Rosalie in her car since they lived the same way.

"You drank a lot too." Alice pulled Bella's left arm back before she could direct Mike to take Rosalie to her car. "Let me feel your pulse."

"I'm fine," Bella protested, seeing little circles.

Alice gave her an unsatisfied look when she felt how rapid Bella's pulse was beating in her right wrist. "No. Here, just give her to me. I'll give you two a ride home." Alice reached out, taking a tired Rosalie in her arms.

"What about my car? I can't leave it here," Bella pointed out. "Seriously – I'm not drunk."

"After all those Vodka shots? Who are you kidding? You can pick your car up tomorrow. Come on, let's go." Alice led Rosalie into the backseat of her car next to Angela. Rosalie curled up next to her, and the two girls wrapped their arms around each other as they slept.

"I could drive you home," Mike offered.

Bella turned, surprised at his forwardness. "It's okay –"

"That's a great idea," Alice interrupted her. "It's safe. Except one thing Mike – can you not mention this to Emmett? Rosalie doesn't drink and if he finds out, he'll freak. You know how he is."

Bella watched as Mike agreed with Alice. When it was finally all settled, Alice drove out of the club's parking lot waving at Bella. "Remember dinner tomorrow! I'll call you!" Bella caught a glimpse of Rosalie and Angela sleeping soundly in the backseat as she returned Alice's wave. Then, turning to face Mike, who was looking back at her with a small smile, she allowed him to follow her to her car.

"I didn't know that you're Emmett's friend. I've never seen you before," Bella told Mike when she handed the keys to her black Mercedes over to him.

"I haven't been in New York for the last two years. I'm just back because I'm best man at his wedding," Mike answered, rolling down the windows as he backed the car out of the parking lot.

What was sexy about Mike?

Everything.

But what stood out the most was his voice. Bella had already fallen in love with his strong, raspy voice. It was _just oh-so _sexy. When he first begins his sentences, it's just like any other voice but it's the way the rasp tints at the very end of his syllables that made Bella invite Mike up to her apartment that night. After pulling inside the garage of her apartment complex, Bella invited him up to have a drink as a way of saying thanks for driving her home. After _a couple of _drinks and useless incoherent conversations, it was solely because of his voice that Bella allowed Mike stay longer, and _one thing led to another_.

"You smell so good." Kissing the side of his cheek, Bella took in his sweet cologne.

With his lips lingering at the base of her throat as his hands lingered around her waist, Mike chuckled.

Letting out a soft moan when he nibbled her bottom lip, Bella sighed.

Truth is, Bella would've gone home single tonight if Angela hadn't said the word _Jessica_. If Angela hadn't said the word, Bella wouldn't be letting this Mike guy be up on her, pushing her against her own bed. But because the word _Jessica _was mentioned tonight, Bella allowed Mike to be her distraction because she was _desperate_ for the distraction.

And what a great distraction Mike turned out to be the minutes afterward his fingers came in-between the clasp of her bra. But he also made things a little more complicated in Bella's world. This was a one-night-stand that would redefine the word _itself_.

Bella should've seen that it was a bad omen that Mike turned out to be the first guy in a while that she knew the name of.

Otherwise, he would've just been referred to as guy #5 of the week.

* * *

Don't worry, it's slowly progressing. The tears are about to come.

What is your favourite drink?


	3. Chapter 3

Stephenie Meyer owns Bella.

* * *

"Sister!"  
"Sister!"  
"Sister!"

It was one of those times where Bella wished she didn't own a cell phone. Only during her sleep did Bella wish that society was back in the cavemen era where no such things as electromagnetic waves existed. But she was the idiot for setting the controls on her phone so that instead of a ring-tone, it would scream out whoever was calling.

It had to be Anthony. Why else would her phone be screaming "Sister" at 5:00 in the morning?

Groaning as if she was in pain, Bella's naked right arm reached out for her cell phone only to realize it wasn't the right night stand. Hitting something like a lotion bottle and the side of the alarm clock sloppily, Bella groaned again from the effort she was putting in on finding the source of that nasty ringing.

"Why is your phone screaming 'sister'?" Burying himself under the covers, her companion from last night stirred from his place to her right.

"Hand me the phone." Bella fell back against her pillow, breathing out an air of frustration. The smell and air of the early morning surrounded her enclosed senses; Bella shivered in her cold room, pulling the bed covers up to warm her naked self.

A loud clatter followed from his side of the bed. Then, when he held it up in midair, Bella took the dainty pink Motorola cell phone into her palm.

"Hello?!" Bella demanded, rolling over to her side. On her right side, her companion moved back into a sleeping position. He rolled over towards her, reached out and spooned Bella's back against his chest. The body heat felt nice and comforting, making Bella yearn to just hang up the phone and fall back asleep.

"Good morning Sister!" His rainbow voice came over the phone line, burning Bella's ears in the process.

Bella groaned, pressing her head against her pillow. "Anthony – do you know what time it is?"

"Of course I do sister! It's five! That's why I'm saying good bright and early morning!"

"What do you want my _favorite_ brother?"

"Um . . . . you know I don't like to get to the point right away Bella."

"Fine. Bye."

"NOOOOOO! Wait."

"What then?!"

"Um . . . you know how I said I would be east to New York soon to try for the national soccer team right?"

"Hmm . . . ."

"Well – I'm going . . . right now. And you won't believe what they said! They said we're not getting our dorms until we officially make the team. I have to find a place on my own to stay. And there's nowhere – no one I know I can stay with in New York so . . . my wonderful sister-whom-I-love-and-adore-with-all-my-heart, can we stay at your place?" he finally asked, running his sentence like a train over a railroad track.

Almost as if something had hit her at the pit of her stomach, Bella bolted up in bed like a crazed woman. "WHAT?!"

"Hehehe . . ." Anthony laughed nervously from the other line. "You see – the thing is I have no place to stay."

"And you couldn't have asked me this when I was already awake or something? Why does it have to be right now?" Bella's mind was frantically thinking of how she was going to say _no_ to Anthony, who didn't accept _no_'s so easily.

"Because . . . I'm on my way to your apartment right now," Anthony said meekly.

"WHAT?!" Suddenly, it was the only vocabulary that Bella knew. She had the worst habit of saying, 'what', a billion times when she was in shock. It was just Anthony's style to shock her when she wasn't capable of thinking clearly.

"Hehehehe . . . please sister! Please! You can't possibly kick me out now that I'm almost here. I _know_ you have a heart." Anthony quickly played the guilt card on her.

"Anthony! No!!" Bella gritted her teeth together in anger. "ANTHONY!!!!!"

"What is it? What's going on?" Bella's companion rolled over again. Opening a lazy eye, he reached out for her arm. "What's wrong?"

"Tsk!" Bella threw his hand away from her. Hanging up her phone, Bella flipped it back open to the contacts section. Scrolling down her contacts book, her eyes finally landed on her older brother's number: Masen. Pressing _talk_, she tried to steady her fuming breath through her nose.

"Hello . . . ." a slurred voice with a tint of drunkenness answered on the other line.

"I thought Anthony was staying with you. Why is he coming to live with me?!" Not bothering to introduce herself to her older brother, Bella fumed into the phone.

"Oh god. Bella. Do you know what time it is?"

"The least you could've done was call me and told me he was coming."

"Look, I was planning to call you when I woke up. IT'S _only_ five."

"ANTHONY JUST WOKE ME UP AND TOLD ME HE'S COMING RIGHT NOW! WHAT KIND OF BROTHER ARE YOU?!"

"WHAT KIND OF SISTER ARE YOU?!"

"UGHHHHHHH!"

"BYE!"

Hanging up the phone, Bella threw it across the room. It bounced off her wooden floor with a loud clunk and almost broke if it hadn't been for the rug in the middle of her room. Biting her lower lip in anger, Bella threw the covers off of her. With a sprint, she rounded her king-sized bed, naked, as she headed for the bathroom. Snatching the nearest bathroom robe, from the rack that held various colored towels and other robes, Bella tied it furiously around herself when she walked back into her room.

"What's going on?" Mike pushed himself up on the bed, using his elbows. Staring at Bella with his sleepy face, he watched as she frantically ran around the room.

"You need to leave." Bending over to scoop up his pants, her dress, his shirt, her bra – Bella hastily started throwing them at him, not bothering to decipher what clearly belonged to him.

Catching his pants before they hit his handsome face, Mike let out a scoff while he smirked. "Is your boyfriend coming home?"

Bella moved over to her dressing drawer, the one decked out with fluorescent light-bulbs all around it, as she grabbed a plain black hair-tie. Looking at Mike through the mirror, she mumbled, "No. My younger brother. He's coming here from Forks. Didn't even tell me – just packs up his stuff and shows up here _that _little brat. Here we go with the dysfunctional family theme again."

"Hmm," was Mike's reply. Dragging himself out of bed, he pulled on his dark blue boxers.

"What?"

"You smell nice."

Quite expected, Mike came up behind her as he planted a small kiss on her left cheek. Taking in her sweet, womanly scent – he was turning on his charms again. It calmed Bella down a little bit.

She turned to face him. For the first time since last night, she stared clearly into his eyes. They reflected back right at her like crystals. Mike was the first guy in a while that Bella actually talked to after sex, and it reminded her of how much she enjoyed running out of the Hotel room (or whose-ever room they had just done it in) because she never did like the morning-after-talk. But with Mike, her mistake was taking him home with her.

Bella reached out, running her fingers down the front part of his exposed chest. When her finger caught the first ripple of his abs, she smiled at him. "How do you feel about commitment?"

Startled at her question, Mike's eyebrows moved slightly. "Huh?"

"Good. Why don't you shower first?" Leaving him to probe about her question, Bella opened the bedroom door and was about to walk out when Mike pulled her back.

"How about we shower together?"

* * *

Not much happened, but believe me, this is an important chapter.

What is your best method of waking up?


	4. Chapter 4

Stephenie Meyer owns the idea.

Thank you to those to reviewed,alerted and faved this story.

* * *

"4. 4. 4."

Carrying his two duffel bags in his arms as if they were weights, Anthony Swan stared down the long hallway of the luxury apartment condos. As the elevator door dinged to a close behind him, Anthony started shuffling his feet forward. Even though apartments #3 and #4 were on this floor, Anthony was so busy mumbling under his breath, "4, 4, 4", that he didn't notice Jacob Black had already found it.

"Dude, is this it?"

"Uh . . . 4? Yep. Ring the bell."

"It's your sister's place. You do it."

"Fine."

Stepping in front of his friend, Anthony reached out to the touch pad where it was labeled – _ring_. Pressing his finger against it, he stepped back with wide eyes. Jacob looked back at him as if they expected the door to blow up.

But the door didn't blow up. Instead, they could hear footsteps coming closer from the other side of the door. Then, without warning, the keypad started blinking and whirring strangely.

"Your sister doesn't know how to open her own door?" Jacob turned to his friend.

Anthony shrugged. "I wouldn't doubt it. She parties like an animal. She's probably still drunk from last night or something."

Jacob nodded. That made a plausible reason. Why else wouldn't someone know how to open the door to their own place? Just when he thought it couldn't take her any longer, the door finally beeped and then opened.

"You never told me your sister's a man." Jacob moved next to Anthony.

"That's not her _asshole_!" Anthony retorted, staring at the guy standing front of them. "Who are you?"

"Come in." Not bothering to interact with the two teenagers, the guy, dressed in a gray sweatshirt and sweats that looked oddly familiar to Anthony, stepped back to let them in Bella's luxurious apartment. As if it was his place too, he pointed to the living room and motioned for them to wait for her there.

Because it was such a lavish place, Jacob couldn't help his curiosity. Following Anthony, he stepped into the large hall. In the middle of the hall, with tinted dark-red, tiled-floors, there was a large solid white-case to the left filled with various objects simply for décor. The place was large enough to have a quaint staircase leading to the upstairs. There were actually _two_ floors to this apartment. Bright sunlight was streaming through a large archway that led to the spacious living room. Through the living room, there was another circular arch that guided to the kitchen. The entire place was well-architectured, decorated, and crafted.

Jacob was impressed.

Meanwhile, Anthony dropped his bags in the middle of the hallway. Jacob did the same. Looking around Anthony shouted, "Bella!"

"She's coming." The guy, that had let Anthony and Jacob in, turned up the staircase.

"He's wearing my sister's old sweatshirt," Anthony mumbled, suddenly realizing why the sweatshirt looked so familiar. "Yo, are you Bella's new boyfriend?"

Just when he was about the reach the top, the guy paused. "No."

"Then what the hell are you doing at my sister's place . . . " Anthony mumbled under his breath while the guy disappeared up the staircase. Turning to his friend, Anthony told him, "Let's get something to eat."

"You never told me your sister's rich," Jacob whispered to Anthony when the two passed the living room.

"_The man _that bought her this place was rich," Anthony simply stated. "I'm hungry."

Anthony made his way to the kitchen, heading straight toward the big, dark fridge. With the morning sunlight bathing the kitchen with its warmth, and after such a tiring trip from Forks to New York, Anthony could feel his stomach growling for comfort and fullness.

Making himself at home, Anthony opened the fridge with ease. "Nothing. _Great_." Anthony stared at the opened fridge once he jerked it open. It was empty except for two red apples and five frozen water bottles. Anthony didn't have to open the frozen section to know that it was empty too – except for _maybe_ a tray of ice cubes.

"I'll take a water bottle," Jacob offered, perching himself up on the kitchen counter.

"I swear, my sister lives like a man," Anthony sighed, tossing Jacob a water bottle when he took one for himself too. Anthony closed the fridge and looked around the empty, but spotless kitchen.

"She doesn't eat?"

"She eats. That's why her fridge is always empty."

Jacob glanced around the kitchen with its dark cabinets and metal sink. The black, gleaming tiles on the floor reflected back at him when he glanced at it. The place didn't seem to belong to a girl at all. He remembered bits and pieces of Bella, Anthony's older sister.

Granted the last time he saw her he was 10 and she was 15, he remembered Bella as a quiet girl. She was so quiet that she appeared so mysterious during the times he saw her. But that was years ago before she moved to New York. Now, he wasn't sure what to expect about her since Anthony had told him she had changed drastically.

"You sure your sister's okay with us coming here?" Jacob twisted off the water bottle cap.

Anthony was already drinking from his, killing the thirsty particles in his throat. "I'm sure. I mean – she acted like a monster about it this morning on the phone, but she's not going to kick us out. I mean – where would we go? She lives in this place all by herself _anyways_."

Jacob nodded, looking around the large kitchen again. "It's a pretty cool place. So, the man that bought her this place – is he still around?"

"_No_. Are you kidding? When his wife found out, he quickly gave Bella a whole bunch of money to shut her up about their affair. Then, he left. Didn't bother her since then. Isn't my sister _such_ a pimp?" Anthony grinned, _so_ proud.

"So she's gonna be cool with us?" Jacob asked.

"_Hell_ yeah. She's like a guy, one of us – really relax and calm. Just one thing I gotta warn you about though. Don't ask her any personal questions like: favorite color, food, drinks, etc., and _especially_ about her relationships. That's when she'll just pack your bag and throw you out without any warning. She hates answering questions – _especially_ about her personal life," Anthony warned his friend. "Just remember that. Don't ask her questions."

Jacob made a face. _How weird_. "I don't think I'll be interested enough to ask her personal questions – don't worry."

Anthony shrugged. "You never know – I'm her brother and I get interested in what she _does_ and especially how she _acts _nowadays. Remember Edward?"

"The guy that she moved to New York with when they were eighteen?" Jacob vaguely remembered Anthony talking about them at the time. "I guess."

"Yeah, so they've been dating for a while until Edward convinced Bella to move to New York with him. They were barely here for a year before they broke up. All I know is he kicked her out of the apartment they were living together. Bella went home and locked herself in a room for days. Then, when she came back out, she went back to New York. I don't know what happened after that, but she changed – _so_ much." Anthony shuddered, not because of the cool morning air in the apartment, but from the memory.

"How so?" Jacob asked. "People change after break-ups all the time –"

"_But_ do they change the way they talk? The way they treat people? The way they look _and_ act? It was like her evil twin showed up. Before, she used to be so bubbly and friendly. Now, she's all sarcastic and _in-yo-face_." Anthony made a face. "Sometimes, I miss the old Bella. But, I like the new Bella better – my sister's _such _a pimp now. I mean – look at this place – "

"Who's a pimp?"

"Bella!"

Spinning around as if he was on an axis, Anthony almost dropped his water bottle from his excitement. Reaching out, he ran full-speed at Bella who didn't appreciate his eagerness to choke the living-daylights out of her.

"BELLA! THANK YOU FOR LETTING US STAY HERE!" Kissing her right cheek, Anthony clung to her like a monkey to its mother.

Grinning sheepishly at his older sister, Anthony tightened his grip. Though they were blood-related, Anthony looked nothing like his sister. For one, Anthony was a head-taller than her and his face was more narrow than Bella's. He had great skin for a guy, but what killed his otherwise normal face was the goofy smile he always donned on his face.

"Let – can't breathe. Anthony!" Bella pried his fingers off her throat, pushing her younger brother off her. Glaring at him as if he had lost his mind, she almost didn't see the other boy sitting on top of her kitchen counter top.

Bella paused. Still dressed in her bathrobe, with her long, layered dark hair still wet hair from the shower, she hadn't anticipated his friend. Without hesitation she blurted out, "Who are you?"

"Aww Bella, don't you remember Jacob? My best friend? The guy that used to sell lemonades in the neighborhood and I jacked his lemonade, called him a girl, and then he beat me up when we ten?" Anthony launched into such a nostalgic story that Bella felt an impending need to _pretend_ like she remembered it.

As if waiting for introduction, Jacob got off the kitchen counter. With a closed-lipped smile, he held out his hand. "Hi."

Like a quick flash, Bella's eyes lined up with his. They met in a parallel motion, and then just stopped. Bella scanned the boy's face – with his heavyset eyebrows and at times squinting dark eyes, it was his sinuous lips that drew Bella's attention in.

_Gosh_, she felt like such a pedophile just staring the nineteen-year-old. He was taller than her, of course, and still had that adorable – just barely-legal-almost-out-of-teen-years presence.

All of a sudden she felt like Alice.

"Ahh, you two stole Masen's clothes while he was swimming in the river that one time. After he caught you both, he hung you and Anthony upside down on that tree – _half-naked _right?"

It was definitely Bella's style to find the most embarrassing story to bring up once she was re-introduced to someone she already knew.

"_Aww_, Bella, why you gotta bring that up?" Anthony groaned.

Jacob was more shy and subtle than Bella. Taking his hand back, a little wounded from the fact that Bella had ignored his out-stretched hand, Jacob tried to play it off with a laugh. She was pretty – in _every_ sense of the word. Her cheeks were the most alluring feature on her face, alongside with her smoldering eyes. Jacob noticed she wasn't tan, but rather pale and natural. She was skinner than he remembered her to be too, even though she was wrapped in a huge bathrobe _now_.

"Two teenage boys, _what fun_." Pushing Anthony aside, Bella made her way to her fridge.

She wasn't surprised that Anthony had brought along with him a friend. If he had come alone, she probably would've died from a heart-attack because he would've been unpredictable for once. But Anthony was never independent enough to go anywhere alone; he always had to have a family member or a friend.

On the other hand, Anthony was waiting for his sister to scream at him for bringing a friend, but he was pleasantly surprised that Bella didn't flip out. It seems as though Bella had finally learned his ways.

Truth was, Bella was too hungry to _care_. After opening the fridge, she barely glanced inside before saying, "You both owe me two water bottles."

"Don't you have any other food in the house, Bella?" Anthony asked, following his sister.

Bella turned around after grabbing a frozen apple; she gave her brother a look. "If you're gonna live here, you –"

"Better not ask you questions. I know," Anthony finished her sentence for her. Glancing at Jacob as if to say, 'see? I told you so', Anthony apologized. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

Letting out a sigh, Bella bit into the juicy apple. The coldness hurt her teeth, but Bella liked it all the same. Glancing at Anthony and then at his friend, she walked back to them. Staring up at the two teenage boys who were just a couple of inches taller than her, Bella laid down the rules.

"You don't bother me: when I'm in my room, when I'm sleeping, when I'm talking on the phone, when I'm watching TV, when I'm listening to music, and when I _look_ like I want to be left alone. You don't answer my phone, you don't answer my door, you don't talk loudly, you don't fight, and you don't invite any other friends that you _might_ make during your time in New York to my apartment. I don't cook because I usually eat-out. I don't clean because I don't make messes. If _you_ eat, you wash the dishes. If there's a mess, _you_ clean it up. No running, no talking loudly, no talking-back _to_ me. Maximum time you can spend in the bathroom is 10 minutes. After using the toilet, you put the toilet seat down – _no exceptions_. And . . . especially . . . DON'T ASK ME QUESTIONS. I do what I want, how I want, when I want. As long as you're living under my roof, those are the rules hanging over your head."

The whole time this Bella was talking, Jacob wanted to laugh so much that his stomach started to hurt. After the first thirty-seconds of her talking, Jacob had already faded out her voice and concentrated on her face.

"Wait – Bella, what was before: No running?" Anthony was counting the rules on his fingers. "You – you said that if we eat, we have to wash the dishes. And if there's a mess, we clean it up? Isn't that a trick? That means we have to wash dishes that aren't even ours and clean up messes that aren't even ours."

"Oh my god." Bella rolled her eyes at him. "Are you an alien? Did mom and dad just give you a skull and stuck spaghetti inside it? Use your brain. I said: I eat out, which means I don't eat at home which means I won't have dishes to wash. So if _you_ eat, _you_ wash the dishes. I don't clean because I don't make messes. So if there's a mess, that means _you_ did it; therefore, _you_ clean."

"Oh . . . " Anthony, utterly shot down, made a face because it was all so much confusing when she talked so fast. "Okay . . . ."

Bella sighed, running her fingers through her wet hair. "Any other questions?"

Jacob stopped his impending smile as he shook his head at her. "No. It's pretty much clear."

"Good, excuse me." Picking up her half-bitten apple, Bella walked out of the kitchen.

"Damn, she has more rules than last time. I think it's because I brought you along," Anthony said.

"Your sister's scary," Jacob added, patting his friend on the back.

For the first time in a long time, Bella placed a hand over her mouth, as she left the two teenagers in the kitchen.

She was trying her best to stifle a laugh. Being a 24-year-old and laying down some ridiculous rules for two 19-year-olds was the perfect recipe for laughter – something that Bella hadn't done in a while. It was hard for her to genuinely laugh, but in this case, it was an exception.

"What are you smiling about?"

"Huh?"

Mike paused, watching Bella's smiling face quickly diminish when she saw him. For a moment, she had forgotten he was still here. Descending the stairs, Mike made his way over to her. As the two met in the middle of the hallway, right in front of her front door, Mike smiled at her.

"I thought you left already."

"I had to pick up my clothes. Thanks for putting them in the washer."

Bella shrugged, tucking her hair behind her right ear. "It was the least I could do."

Raising an eyebrow, Mike wasn't so sure what she meant by it. "Do you mind if I take your car? Mine's still at the club's parking lot since we took yours here."

"Oh yeah . . ." Inside, Bella was berating herself for being so stupid. This one-night-stand thing wasn't working out so well. "How about you give me five minutes? I'll go get dressed and drop you off there? I have to go to work anyways."

Mike smirked, letting out a small chuckle. "You don't want any attachments huh?"

Looking straight into his eyes, Bella replied, "Pretty much."

"Go get dressed. I'll wait." Mike nodded.

Just as Bella was about to walk past him, Mike suddenly reached out. He was starting to play his games. Jerking her back, he leaned into her left ear. Placing his lips dangerously against her earlobe, Mike's voice hit that _perfect _rasp as he said, "I'm not a one-night-stand kind of guy. I like the strings attached to it. Just to let you know."

Stepping back when he finally freed her, Bella stared up at him. "What?"

Mike shrugged, looking down at her as he smiled. "How do you feel about commitment?"

All traces of light humor or playfulness on Bella's face faded when Mike asked her the same question she had asked him this morning. Being the type of person that hated questions, Bella could feel the anger being placed into a pan and then heated up inside of her.

Rhetorical questions bothered Bella more than any other type of questions.

But before she could answer him, Jacob and Anthony suddenly stepped into the hallway. Anthony, who had to drag his friend along with him because he was too embarrassed to confront his sister alone, said, "Bella – uh . . . I gotta use your bathroom but you have things hanging in there."

Remembering her habit of hanging up expensive newly washed bras and panties in the bathroom to dry, because she hated putting them through the washing machine, Bella had to leave Mike in the hallway as she rushed inside the bathroom to gather her personal things.

Now that she had two teenage boys in her place, Bella could no longer live as a bachelor_ette_ or as Anthony would say: _pimp_.

On top of that, Mike's rhetorical question had thrown Bella completely off balance.

That's why she hated questions - all types of questions.

* * *

Jacob will play a huge role in this story, and I mean huge.

More will be revealed.

Click on that green button and tell me what's in your fridge.


	5. Chapter 5

Stephenie Meyer owns everything. Lucky her.

* * *

"Mike – why were you there at the club yesterday?"

"That's for me to know and for you to find out."

Little things about guys irked Bella. Especially guys who didn't straight-out say what they meant, as if they had something to hide or boost their mysterious ego.

Bella was tired of _that_ game. She never had a problem being physically intimate with a guy. It was the emotional part of a relationship Bella struggled with. She didn't like anyone to know that it was her weakness.

That's why she avoided questions because answering them satisfied the other person, allowing them to think they knew her answer entirely – when in fact, she was the type of person that says _one_ thing but means something _entirely_ different.

Mike reawakened Bella's defensive instincts with his cocky attitude and demeanour.

What the _hell_ did he mean when he asked, "How do you feel about commitment?" Wasn't it quite obvious how she felt about it? She couldn't wait for him to get out of her place. Other than the fact that she enjoyed her time with him _physically_ last night, Mike was not going to get her the way he wanted to get her. He had her physically, but he was _not_ going to get the emotional side of Bella Swan.

In shorter terms – she was _easy_ to get physically.

It was her _heart _that played hard-to-get.

After Bella dropped Mike off at the club they had met last night, she stayed in her car watching him climb into his imported red sports-car. Mike rolled down the dark tinted windows when he drove past her, giving her a quick wink and a small wave.

Bella lowered her brakes, backed out of the parking lot, and then shot her Mercedes out of there within seconds after him. They merged into the same lane, but split at the red light in different directions.

She hoped that it would be the last time she would see Mike again. Her mind was telling her it was best while physically, she couldn't deny she wanted to see him again. That's one of the worst side-effects of human carnal desires. The body gives in too easily, but the mind fights with nails and teeth to back out.

To get her mind off the emotional baggage, Bella turned up the car radio and blasted music. Even though it was a song she liked, she didn't sing along to it. Singing meant being happy.

Bella was _far_ from happy.

When she finally pulled into the reserved parking lot of the fashion district, Bella rolled back up the car windows. She was reaching for her purse in the backseat when her eyes fell on it. The simultaneous light of the black _SamSung_ cell phone blinked up at her from the passenger seat.

Mike's cell phone.

Letting out an unbelievable smile, Bella picked it up in-between her fingers. "_Very_ smart." Mike clearly knew what he was doing. He left his cell phone in her car on purpose.

Without another thought, Bella stuffed his cell phone into her purse.

Out of sight, out of mind.

For the rest of the day, Bella concentrated on her work as she marched up and down the high-retail store, _Chanel_, and did her managing duties. Four years at University as a business management major, this was Bella's second store and serious job.

She used to work for _Burberry_ until she had a short affair with the public relations manager and his wife found out. Thanks to him, however, she got her luxurious apartment condo.

_Was he the first after Edward_? Yes.

_Did she find him attractive_? Yes; he was an older man with enough time and experience for her.

_Did she know he had a wife_? No; he didn't tell her until he took her to the apartment condo and told her to choose between apartment #3 or #4.

_Did she feel betrayed when he paid her to be quiet about their affair_? No; Bella had been stabbed in the back and bled to death; his little betrayal didn't even prick her finger.

_Did she love him_? **Hell** no.

Bella threw out the words: love _and_ like out of her dictionary a _long_ time ago.

The fashion district was always packed with big spenders. Within the first half of the day, Bella managed to sell some haute-couture dresses imported from Paris, worth thousands of dollars. Because she was already the store's manager, it didn't earn her any bonus cookies. So Bella gave the credit entirely to Lauren, one of the sales clerks on that shift.

Around seven, Bella descended from the second-story to ground level after receiving a dinner reminder from Angela. She glanced around the brightly-lit store, well-decorated with vibrant colors and style according to the season. There were a total of four employees working on the shift. But, only two were on the first floor. Seeing how vacant it was, Bella looked outside to see that the walkway was already lit by the lampposts.

"Lauren." Bella stopped by the front counter, holding her cell phone in hand. Surrounded by fragrances and other tidbits that added to the store's available products, Bella tapped the large glass.

"Yes?" Lauren, who was reorganizing makeup products from the other end of the counter, turned around. Staring at Bella with anticipation, she smiled at her manager. Still in her early teens, she looked extremely westernized with dyed blonde hair, pink lip gloss, and heavily mascara eyes. Even though this was Lauren's first part-time job, Bella completely trusted the younger girl. Her work ethic was impeccable.

"I'm going to check out. Leah is coming in half-an-hour to take over the night shift. You're okay with the store until then right?" Bella flipped shut her cell phone.

"Yes. I'll be fine," Lauren answered. "You can go ahead Manager Bella."

"Call me if anything happens."

"I will. Should I tell everyone else you're leaving?"

"No. They could care less."

*** * * * **

With sweat dripping over his eyebrows and seeping into his eyes, Jacob almost started crying because it hurt so much. But he forced his legs to continue propelling, even though the muscles were screaming. Pumping his arms, Jacob stared straight ahead when he felt his heart picking up even more speed. He was trying his best to concentrate. It was a matter of mind over body.

But Jacob found it hard to concentrate with Anthony running on the treadmill next to him, making these kinds of noises: "Argghhhh – huh _huh_ huh – oh ohhh _ohhh_." Anthony was breathing like a bull – grunting, groaning, and moaning.

The sex noises got so disturbing that Jacob had to say something.

"Dude – stop – making – those – noises – they're – disturbing!" Jacob breathed, keeping up his bounce on his treadmill.

"Thank you!" Dr. Hilly, who was holding up a clipboard and monitoring their heart-rate, chimed in. He moved back between the two boys running on treadmills parallel to one another. To Jacob, he said, "You're doing great. You're at the peak of your physical strength. That's good enough son. You can step down."

Jacob breathed out hot-air of oxygen when his treadmill released him from the vigorous run. Placing a hand on his hip, he reached for the white towel. Wiping it around his hot, sweaty upper-body, Jacob glanced over to see Anthony had fallen off _his_ treadmill.

"I was talking to him, not you." Dr. Hilly hovered over Anthony, peering down at him. "You really are out of shape son. Making those noises while you're running isn't healthy."

Sweat was pouring down the side of his face as Anthony blinked up at the doctor. "I – didn't – eat – that's – why – I'm – "

"You didn't eat?" Dr. Hilly frowned. "In the rules, we made it very specific that before coming to this physical test, you have to have had some carbohydrates and nutrients in your system."

"We had a very long trip from Forks to New York. We just arrived this morning and then came here." Coming to aid Anthony in his explanation, Jacob would've helped his friend up if his wrist wasn't still attached to wires that were measuring his heart-rate.

"Tsk-tsk." Shaking his head, Dr. Hilly reached down to help Anthony. "Come on, get up off the floor son. The entire gym thinks I just knocked you down."

Taking the fragile doctor's hand, Anthony pulled himself up. Breathing heavily, he used the handle-bars on the treadmill to steady himself. He was red in the face and sweating profusely. Looking back at the heart-monitor monitoring , Dr. Hilly finished up his report.

"Okay, you're all done. I'll have your report sent over to them, and within a week they should call you in for the official soccer team tryouts. You, however," Dr. Hilly pointed to Anthony, "I'm giving you another chance to take the test again tomorrow. Go home, eat, rest, and come back tomorrow."

He couldn't believe his luck. Breaking into a smile, Anthony started to hug the doctor when Dr. Hilly held up his hand. "It's okay. I'm fine. Just say thank you."

Anthony was so sure he had failed the physical exam that he broke into fits of giggles after he and Jacob exited the gym they were just tested in. Trying out for the National Soccer team was harder than he had expected. Sure, Anthony and Jacob had been the top players at their high school, and their coach had recommended them to the national team, but they still had to go through tryouts and physical exams. It was worse for Anthony because without food, he was weak. Jacob was the one that was always running on raw energy.

"See? If my _manly_-sister had food in her fridge, I would've aced the test today. Now, I gotta worry about it tonight," Anthony complained when he and Jacob were back out on the crowded streets. "Let's go eat a _huge_ dinner."

"How about we just stop by a grocery store and buy food?" Jacob suggested; both boys stopped in the middle of the street to debate. "She has no food back at that place anyway. Between you and me, we can cook up a good, healthy meal."

"I did take cooking class," Anthony mumbled. "Yeah! You know what? Let's buy food. She never does anyway."

"Yeah, and if we buy her something that she really likes, who knows – maybe she'll be fine with having lots of food in the house." Jacob grinned. "What does she like to eat?"

Anthony held up a hand. "I'm not allowed to ask her what she likes remember? So I don't know what she likes."

"Duh – dude, it's so fucking obvious what she likes," Jacob replied when the idea struck him.

"What?"

"Apples." Without another word, Jacob continued walking.

"How the hell does he know that?" Anthony mumbled under his breath. As he raced to catch up to his friend, he shouted, "Wait up!"

*** * * * **

"Finally! I've been sitting here like a loser for the last 10 minutes. I swear, you and Alice can compete for Miss Late." Letting out a frustrated but happy noise, she shifted in her seat while she waved at her friend.

With a small smile, Bella placed her Vintage handbag at the foot of her chair before sitting down. "Sorry, traffic."

Angela made a face at her. Reaching up, she pushed her dark sunglasses higher on the bridge of her nose. Staring around the fancy restaurant, _Eclipse_, Angela was well-aware that she stuck out like a sore thumb. The entire place was bathed in fancy, chandelier lighting. Every table had the same red-and-white décor with fancy silverware. All the waiters and waitresses dressed in black-and-white uniform while they served. Soft, classical music always played in the background.

But none of those things mattered to Bella. Because Angela had chosen the table near the large window, Bella was looking outside. The boulder that the restaurant sat on had a steep drop that led to a small, bluish river. The sun was disappearing behind the horizon, the colors of pink and baby blue streaked across the sky, making the river look even more fantasy-like.

"Bella-aa."

"What's with your glasses?"

Making an embarrassed noise, Angela slowly pulled down her glasses to reveal a small bruise on her left eye. "_Look_."

"Who the _fuck _hit you?" Bella reached across the table to touch the black and blue bruise on her friend.

"Alice's car," Angela grunted, pushing the glasses back up on her nose. "She was helping me out of her car and I hit my face on her door. What made it worst – I can't find my favorite socks anymore. I swear – I'm such a bad drunk."

Letting out a scoff, Bella sat back in her chair. Remembering how drunk Angela was yesterday, Bella felt an urge to make fun of her. But instead, Bella just crossed her arms across her chest as she shook her head. "That's because they fell out of your dress. I had to help you stuff them back in. I guess when Alice took you home, it fell out again. Alice and Mike were laughing like two psychos."

Angela was in the middle of picking up her glass drink when she paused. "Mike? Mike was there?"

Bella nodded. "Yeah. When Alice and I went back to the VIP room, you and Rosalie were knocked out and he was helping Rosalie throw up."

"Fuck! Mike was there?! Gosh! I must've looked like an idiot! Damn it!" Angela groaned, cupping her face in her hands. "Did he say anything?"

"No," Bella replied. Angela's reaction to Mike's name was definitely news to Bella.

Trying to act as nonchalant as she could, Bella asked, "Why? You like him?"

"Who doesn't? Have you looked at him?" Angela gushed. "He's _so_ hot. He's like that gangster, hip-pop kinda guy."

"Hip-hop," Bella corrected her. "Honestly, how are you a singer if you don't even know your genres?"

"Whatever," Angela replied, pressing on. "Can't deny the boy's hot though. I bet he has a great body underneath those clothes."

"He does," Bella mumbled.

"What?'

"Uh – I mean, he does?"

Angela eyed Bella. Whenever Bella was asked to repeat something she said, she would usually say, 'never mind' because she hated repeating herself. But with Angela's question, Bella was quick to repeat the question. But, did she really repeat it? Eyeing her friend suspiciously, Angela asked, "Is there something you're _not_ telling me?"

"How come everyone else knows about him and I don't?" Bella asked, dodging Angela's bait.

"Two years ago – we were all at Rosalie's summer party, you didn't go remember? He was there, but then he disappeared to Canada for a while. Now he's back," Angela explained. Then, it suddenly dawned on Angela as the memory came back to her. "Wait a minute – Alice told me you were too drunk to drive home last night. Mike took you back home didn't he?"

"Shit. . ." Bella said under her breath.

"_Busted_! You little ho! You and your little one-night-stands. Why didn't you tell me sooner?!" Angela burst out laughing, sitting up and pointing at Bella. "You can try to be cool around other people, but how the hell are you gonna lie to me?"

"Because I don't like to talk about my sexual liaisons," Bella replied simply. "You know me Angela."

"Unless we drag it out of you!" Angela raised an eyebrow, letting out another laugh. "Tell me – how was he? Great, _now_ I'm satisfied."

"Why are you satisfied?" Bella stared at her close friend. It's funny how long they've known each other, but Bella could never read Angela's ever-changing mind.

"Because at least one of us got to _do_ him. Hey, girl power." That was just Angela's style – it cemented her status of being the most carefree and liberated of the group. "Tell me – how was he?!"

Bella shrugged, trying to remember bits and pieces. "Hot."

Angela rolled her eyes, sitting back in her chair. "That's it? You really do keep the goods to yourself don't you?"

"Angela." Bella was the verge of laughing. "What do you _want_ me to say?"

"Tell me _more_ so I can live vicariously through you! Didn't we promise we'd tell each other about the hot guys we fuck?" Angela was putting it so much out there that it made Bella realize they were in a very upscale restaurant. It made them _both_ realize that their ongoing conversation was attracting some unwanted listeners.

Several people from the other tables turned to look at Angela and Bella with curiosity because of their blunt conversation.

"What are you looking at?" At the same time, Angela and Bella asked them.

"Look you guys. Still bullying people who eavesdrop on your conversations huh?"

Clinging onto her latest boy toy, Alice appeared at their table. Dressed in a simple white summer dress, she was sporting the latest _Jimmy Choo_ sandals to go along with it. Her hair was pinned back into a bun, making her brown eyes more noticeable.

Her boyfriend, shy and clearly younger, stood at her side dressed in a nice and casual black-and-white outfit. His hair was a bit too long, but it complimented his handsome face. He had the most penetrating dark eyes and pouty red lips that Bella had ever seen on a guy. Add to that, he was quite tall and qualified as delicious _new_-meat.

Bella had to give it to Alice for her talent in snagging the latest, newly-legal _toys_.

"Bella, do you mind?"

Exchanging an amused look with Angela, Bella picked up her bag as she changed seats. Once she settled into the one next to Angela, Alice's boy toy helped Alice into the chair directly in front of Bunny. Then, he sat down next to her, across from Bella

"This is Seth– these are my friends, Angela and Bella." Alice pointed to Angela first, who held out her hand for Seth to shake. Then, Alice pointed to Bella. Seth was about to reach for her hand to shake too when Alice quickly said, "Oh Bella – she doesn't shake or hold hands."

"She'll shake and hold something else," Angela winked, nudging Bella.

"ANGELA!" Alice and Bella quickly shouted.

"Sorry! The alcohol hasn't washed out of my system yet!" Angela held up a hand as though to surrender. Looking over at Seth, she smiled apologetically at him, "I'll keep the sexual references down."

"Uh – don't mind me," Seth said nicely, causing Alice to launch into fits of girlish giggles.

"My god – isn't he cute?" She pinched his cheek. Seth blushed from her attention. Picking up the menu, Alice stuck it under his face. "What do you want to eat, baby ?"

"Let's start ordering." Angela followed suit, opening the large menu to hide her face behind it. She turned to Bella and mouthed to her: Alice's a pedophile!

"Where's Rosalie?" Bella spoke up, trying to suppress her laugh. "Did you call her ,Alice?"

"Yeah, she's out of town right now. She has to make some adjustments to the wedding dress. So, since tonight we're all suppose to have dinner and we're missing a fourth person, I brought Seth." Alice nudged her boy toy, grinning at him.

Seth flashed a quick smile at Angela and Bella. "Uh – excuse me. I'll be right back." Seth got up from the table, and then tucked in his chair. Before he left, he leaned down to give Alice a peck on the cheek. She unravelled in his sweetness.

"Isn't he cute?!" Alice squealed, watching her boy toy head toward the back of _Eclipse_ where the bathrooms were.

"If you think he's so adorable, why don't you just adopt him? Always gushing about him like he's your kid and _not _your boyfriend. You're crossing the line from pedophile to incestuous molester," Angela told her, putting down her menu.

"HEY!" Alice snapped. "Stop calling me a pedophile! You're just jealous because I have a younger, hotter boyfriend! And he's _delicious_!"

"There she goes with that word again. Jealous?" Angela scoffed, looking at Bella. "She thinks I'm jealous." Turning back to Alice, Angela stuck out her lip. "FUCK YEAH I'M JEALOUS! Where did you find him? Does he have any friends? I want one!"

"Hahahahaha!" The two of them suddenly burst into laughter. They were _always_ like that. One minute, it sounded as though a huge fight would ensue, but then in the next second – they were laughing it off. Bella couldn't believe they were her friends sometimes. They really made a strange group all together.

"Anyways, I'm hungry. Can we please order now?" Picking up her menu, Bella diverted the perverted conversation.

"You want me to find you one too Bella? You should try it," Alice offered, clearly kidding.

"Leave Bella alone. She already had a _hot_ night last night," Angela replied, nudging Bella's side.

"Who?"

"Mike. _Duh."_

"Oooh! So I was a matchmaker last night?" Alice grinned at Bella. "Come on, dish."

Bella rolled her eyes. "What is there to dish? The deed was done. Besides, I don't like him."

"You _never_ like the guy you do – emotionally. We're talking _physically_," Alice said.

Exchanging a glance with Angela, she said, "Come on. Tell me. It's been a while since I've been with an older guy. Is there any new technique I'm missing out on? It's hard to learn new ones when you're teaching the old ones to your boyfriend."

Angela burst out laughing. "HAHAHA! Sucks for you! I bet he's so young you gotta teach him _everything_."

Alice sighed, making a face. "You're finally getting it! That's the beauty of dating younger guys! You get to corrupt them!"

"Oh my god – " Bella gasped while Angela burst out laughing, wrapping her arms around Bella to steady herself.

"What's so funny?" Seth was back. Staring around at the three girls laughing like crazy, he didn't know what to do.

"Honey! You're back!" Reaching up to pull Seth closer to her, Alice motioned with her face for Bella and Angela to cease and desist their conversation.

For the rest of the dinner, Angela kept interrogating Seth about what it was like to date an older woman while Alice kept defending him. But, it turned out that Seth was quite capable of defending himself. It took a while, but he managed to fit into the group perfectly fine.

Although he was quite shy, Seth didn't seem to mind Angela's probing jokes. He came to learn that Angela was the ringleader in their conversations, and it was Bella's biting sarcasm he had to watch out for. But it was all in good fun; Angela and Bella even liked the kid and was okay with him dating with their Alice. It was the first time she had officially introduced him to the girls.

When they all left the restaurant and headed to the parking lot, while exchanging quick goodbye hugs with one another, Angela made sure to hug Seth tightly. Despite Alice's disapproving look, Angela grinned when Seth returned her hug. When he turned to Bella however, Seth remembered that Bella wasn't like Angela. So, he just smiled at her. "It was nice meeting you too." Bella only nodded back to him.

Alice was happy to see that Bella had acknowledged him; out of all her friends that she was most nervous about introducing Seth to – it was Bella. But now that everything was okay, she was more than happy.

"Thanks you guys." Alice pulled Angela and Bella aside while Seth went to get the car. "Despite how stupid we all can be, thanks for accepting Seth."

"She's going all sentimental on us." Angela rolled her eyes at Alice while glancing at Bella in the process. "We're your friends you _dummy_, of course we're gonna like who you date – until you dump him."

Breaking into a smile, Alice squeezed Angela and Bella into a tight group hug. "I love you!"

When Seth pulled up in his new silver Honda model, Alice made a mad dash toward the car. Waving frantically to her friends before rolling up her window, Alice was gone as soon as the car pulled out of the parking lot.

"I'll drop you off you at home." Bella said to Angela, unzipping her purse for her keys.

"You got any alcohol at your house?" Angela asked instead. She was dying from all the foreplay that would eventually lead to a depressing and boring night.

"I think so," Bella answered.

"Let's go get drunk." Linking her arms through Bella's, Angela led the way to Bella's car.

Bella wasn't so talkative in the car when she drove back to her apartment. Angela was still alive, talking a mile a minute. It was a miracle Bella even drove home and made it up to the second floor of her apartment building.

Full and tired, Bella led the way into her dark apartment. Seeing that Anthony and his friend weren't home, Bella headed straight toward the living room and flopped face down on the couch. She was officially drained from lack of sleep and work.

"Where's the alcohol?" Angela asked, making her way into Bella's dark kitchen.

"The very last cabinet to the left of the sink," Bella remembered mumbling.

Grabbing a straight Vodka bottle and two shot glasses, Angela came back into the dark living room. Flopping back down next to Bella, Angela handed her a shot glass. Pouring themselves drinks in the dark, the two girl friends sat drinking.

It was routine for Angela and Bella to sit in the dark and drink; it was _their_ thing. Alice didn't like to drink unless she was at a club; Rosalie would never drink if it wasn't a special occasion. Only Angela and Bella liked to randomly pick a night and drink until they passed out. Usually, it would happen after some girl talk. But something was morbidly depressing about tonight.

After a couple of minutes of drinking and silence, Bella figured something was terribly wrong with Angela's mentality tonight.

"What's wrong?" Bella asked Angela, who was now oddly quiet. "Whenever you become an alcoholic, you're practically screaming, 'drama'."

Angela sighed, downing her Vodka shot. "All this pressure of having to make a good second album is getting to me. I hate how I'm a product now – a fucking product. What ever happened to just having a good voice? Singing a great song? Now, it's like – I gotta know how to dance _and_ be sexy. It's just too much."

Bella tilted her head back, letting the Vodka burn through her throat. The bitter and copious taste rattled the cell-lining her throat; the burn felt addicting. Taking the Vodka bottle from Angela, she poured herself another shot. "Don't conform to what they want you to be. See how miserable you are now? What happens when you actually really do? Don't do it. _Waste_ of time."

"It's those other fuckers in the industry that raise the standard. Like that chick from that show. I can't dance like her! And they want me to? I'm fucking twenty-five. I'll break my back flipping in and out," Angela groaned, downing her second Vodka shot. "Maybe Alice's right – I am jealous."

"Why?"

"She's dating a great guy. Sans the fact that he's fucking 18, he listens to her, does what she wants him to do, and he treats her like she's a Queen. Why can't we find good men ,Bella? Don't you think life's a bitch?"

"You have _no_ idea."

"I need a man." Angela shifted, lying down on the other side of the couch. She stretched, placing her feet onto Bella's lap and her head on the couch's armrest. "Why is that . . . we, two successful, smart, beautiful women – can't find a good man? They're all fucking taken or gay."

Bella swallowed another shot of the bitter Vodka. Staring at the darkness, she nodded off on her side of the couch. Knowing that she couldn't keep her balance any longer, Bella curled up on the couch, resting her head on her side of the armrest.

"Angela – "

"What?"

"You don't want a boyfriend."

"I know. Pass me the bottle will you?"

The two continued to drink, taking drag after drag. Because they were both lying on opposite ends of the couch, Bella and Angela continued to pass the Vodka bottle back-and-forth. Pretty soon, Angela was so out of it, she could hardly speak. Bella's head was hurting and every time she tried to move, it hurt her bladder. Mumbling incoherently until they drank to the very last drop of the Vodka bottle, the two girls were so drunk that they didn't even hear Anthony and Jacob coming home.

The two teenage boys were carrying grocery bags, completely oblivious to the fact that Bella and her friend was passed out drunk in the living room.

Anthony headed straight to the kitchen while Jacob was still stuck outside in the hallway. He had dropped his wallet. Picking it up, he heard a mumble and then soft laughter coming from the dark living room.

"Bellaaaaa, you didn't . . . you didn't tell me how Mike was last night."

"Hot. I told you . . . he . . . was…fucking…steaming hot."

"Hahahaha. . . ."

"Angela –"

". . . . . ."

Realizing that her friend was now asleep, Bella closed her eyes, feeling the magnetic pull too. The alcohol was taking over and all her nerves were collapsing. No longer fighting the heavy feeling sitting on her eyelids, Bella slowly drifted off to sleep as she mumbled, ". . . When I was with Mike last night, all I could think about was Edward . . . ."

Curious at who was talking to Bella, Jacob had made his way through the dark living room and saw the two drunken girls passed out on the couch, still holding their respective shot-glasses in hand.

Jacob came just in time to see a tear dropping sloppily out of Bella's closed right eye as her voice trailed away, carrying with it a heartbreaking sentence. "When I was with Mike last night, all I could think about was Edward . . . ."

* * *

Don't you all just hate Edward?


	6. Chapter 6

Stephenie Meyer owns the Twilight Universe.

Thank you to you guys for everything. Kisses to all.

Now, enjoy.

* * *

"Why does it have to end this way? Don't you love me?"

"I do."

"No. You _did_."

At the sound of something smashing into a billion pieces in the kitchen, Bella suddenly bolted up from where she was on the couch. Instantly, the bright morning light blinded her through the huge doors that led out to the balcony. Because Bella had been sleeping on the couch that faced it directly, there was no way she could have avoided the sunrays.

Irritated and horribly hung-over, Bella ran a frustrated hand through her hair. She closed her eyes, calming her thumping heart.

She was starting to dream about him – _again_.

"Hahahahaha! You're so funny!" Angela was talking in the kitchen. Her ringing laughter emanated a wide radius throughout the entire apartment.

The loud sound of a broom sweeping up the broken dish, soft clinks of forks and spoons hitting plates, and drinks being poured into a glass – the morning activity shook Bella out of her dark state. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, Bella sat still on the couch for another minute to compose herself.

Meanwhile, Anthony and Jacob were in the kitchen entertaining Angela.

The two of them had woken up early and cooked breakfast. Because Anthony had to go back for his physical test today, he needed lots of carbohydrates and proteins in his system. So while he stuffed himself with eggs and other nutrients, Angela and Jacob were the ones lavishing in bacon, pancakes, sausages, and toast.

Angela was the first one up in the early hours of the morning; she was actually in the bathroom washing her face and relieving her bladder when she heard noises from kitchen. Knowing that it couldn't be Bella since she was still asleep on the couch, Angela went and investigated. To her delight, she found Bella's younger brother and his hot-looking friend.

It had been a while since Angela had last seen Anthony, and she was pleasantly surprised to see that he had grown into such a tall and slightly muscular teenager. But, instead of doting on Anthony, it was his friend Angela was more interested in.

"So Jacob, you have a girlfriend?" Angela was asking him when she gulped down her orange juice.

Caught off-guard at her question, Jacob almost choked on the toast he was biting on. "No."

"Angela, why don't you ask me?" Anthony pointed to himself. Since he was sitting across from her and Jacob at the kitchen counter, Anthony stared directly at Angela.

Angela made a face at him. "I don't care about you."

"Angelaaaaa!"

"Hahahaha."

"_All_ this noise." Marking her entrance with a disapproving look, Bella walked into the brightly lit kitchen. Glancing around at the scene in front of her, Bella let out an annoyed sigh when she saw the mess they had made of her kitchen.

"Bella!" Anthony jumped instantly, getting in his sister's face. "You okay? You want anything? Coffee? Tea?"

"Coffee," Bella barely replied, brushing past Anthony while he headed to the opposite counter to pour her a cup of coffee from the instant coffee maker.

"Morning." Angela grinned widely at her when Bella took Anthony's seat. "You look good."

"Thanks," Bella mumbled sarcastically.

"Here." Handing her the steaming hot cup of coffee, Anthony took a seat next to his older sister. Glancing at her, he knew that it was best not to annoy her. It wouldn't be the first time Bella was hung-over, so he knew best to just stay out of her way. This was the heart of their relationship - Anthony really knew how to take care for his hung-over sister because he owed her the favor.

Meanwhile, Jacob watched Bella take small sips of her cup of coffee. He continued eating, minding his own business. When he discovered Bella and Angela passed out on the couch last night, he and Jacob had left them alone to sleep. Jacob had told him it wasn't the first time Angela and Bella drank themselves stupid and unconscious.

Jacob had walked away from the scene, but the image and thoughts of the pain Bella was in wouldn't leave _him_ alone. It was the first time he saw someone in such emotional pain, and he was glad that she was drunk at the time.

Jacob was pretty sure Bella didn't know he was standing there when she cried and said what she said – at least he hoped she didn't remember. It was more embarrassing for him than for her. But Bella wasn't even looking his way at all today. She really didn't remember.

"Is your food really interesting?" Looking up, Jacob realized Angela was talking to him. She was looking at him with an amused look. "I've never seen anyone eat and stare at their food like that."

Letting out a small laugh, Jacob could feel his face burning red from the embarrassment. "Sorry, I was just –"

"Leave him alone Angela." Bella came to his rescue. Placing her coffee back on the table, she looked back over at Anthony. "What's up with the royal breakfast?"

"I have to retake my physical test today. I failed yesterday because I was too weak, so I'm trying to eat something healthy so I can burn through it today," Anthony replied, careful not to blame Bella for the fact that it was indirectly her fault that he failed. "Jacob and I went out to buy food yesterday, so there's a lot of stuff in the fridge now."

A dark look crossed Bella's face. "You're telling me you domesticated my kitchen?"

"Bella – " Alarmed that no matter how careful he had been, Anthony was still able to tick off his sister. "It's good for you! How can you live without food? Just two apples and water bottles aren't healthy! I'm thinking of your health!"

"Bella, you should be thankful you got a little brother that cares," Angela chimed in. Giving her friend a look, she smiled at Anthony. "You have _two_ teenage boys taking care of you now."

Jacob looked up, watching Bella's facial expression change. Reaching over, he pushed a plate of pancakes and toast toward her. "Here, Anthony saved you a plate."

"Come on Bella, turn that frown upside down!" Anthony wrapped an around his sister as he handed her a fork. "Eat."

"Teenage boys have changed, haven't they?" Speaking mostly to Angela, Bella took the offered plate and fork.

Angela smiled back at her friend. "Just keep them from Alice."

"What?" Anthony and Jacob turned to her.

"Don't worry about it. It's an inside joke." Angela laughed aloud, causing Bella to draw a small smile too.

The four continued eating when a loud ring came from the living room. Not recognizing the ring-tone, Bella continued eating the deliciously hot toast.

"Is that your phone?" Anthony looked at Jacob, who shook his head. Turning to Angela, he asked her, "Is that your phone?"

Angela shook her head, pointing to her silent cell phone on the counter. "Mine's right here. Bella, it's yours."

Bella looked up, shaking her head. "I don't have a song for a ring-tone." But the annoying ring of some hip-hop song wouldn't go away. When no one wanted to take responsibility for it, a thought crossed Bella's mind. Placing her fork back down on the table, Bella got off the stool and headed back out the living room.

Her Vintage purse was lying next to the couch. Various objects were spilling out of it, but Bella immediately saw the black SamSung vibrating. Mike's face flashed into her mind before Bella even answered the phone.

Leaning against the couch, she answered casually, "Hello."

"Who are you?" Mike's voice came over the line. "Why do you have my phone?"

Letting out a small scoff, Bella paused as she thought.

_Was he playing his fucking game or was he serious_? "Who are _you_?"

". . . . Bella? Oh – hahaha. You have my phone?" As if it was a complete surprise to him, Mike's demeanor changed. Letting out a soft laugh, he went on, "Did I leave it at your place?"

Clearly knowing what he was up to now, Bella replied, "No. It just fell in my purse on accident."

"Cell phones can walk now, huh?" Mike imprinted his sarcastic tone on the phone line.

"Let me guess, you want your phone back."

"Yeah – I would like that."

"Sorry, I'm busy today. I'll call you another time." Poised to hang up the phone, Bella was about to when Mike spoke up.

"Can't even spare five minutes to see me? After we spent hours together the other night?" He knew he had caught her off-guard.

Mike made sure to lower his intonation at the word "night" so that the rasp in his voice was more noticeable. He knew it was Bella's weakness – it was most girls' weakness.

There was a pause from the other end of the phone line.

Standing up straight from the couch, Bella held the phone against her ear as her lips moved. ". . . Where are you?"

"At Starbucks, near 5th and Broadway," he answered.

"This is the last time I'll see you. I'll be there in ten." Bella kept it short, letting him know that she didn't want to play around.

That ship had sailed.

Hanging up the phone, she made sure to turn it off. Bella barely had time to think about the conversation before she turned around and walked right into Angela.

"Fuck," Bella placed a hand on her chest. "Scared the shit out of me. Why are you standing there?"

Rubbing her arm from where they clashed, Angela looked up at her. "I thought you heard me. Who's phone is that?"

"Someone's," Bella lied. "I need to go return it."

Angela eyed Bella suspiciously, but was too tired to probe any longer. "Are you going my way?"

"Yeah. I'll give you a ride home."

"Good. I need to shower and sleep some more. I swear I'm _never_ drinking again."

"That's what you said last time."

"I know. I'm horrible at promises."

While Bella rushed upstairs to change, Angela went back into the kitchen to say her goodbyes to Anthony and his hot friend.

*** * * * **

Jacob closed the apartment door behind him. He turned around to see Anthony taking small steps towards the elevator at the end of the complex hallway.

"What are you doing?"

"Conserving my energy so that when I get to that physical test, I'll have plenty of energy to pass!"

Jacob laughed at his friend's strange theory. "Whatever floats your boat dude."

"Come on. The faster I can get that test over with, the faster we can get home and clean up that mess we made in the kitchen. When Bella comes home and sees that, we can say goodbye to this place." Anthony stood inside the elevator while he waited for Jacob to do the same.

"Your sister has problems ,man."

"She has problems and issues all in one cute mix bag."

*** * * * **

Staring around the coffee-infested place, Bella stepped into Starbucks with certain qualms and apprehensions. On a Saturday morning like this one, the place wasn't as packed as she thought it would be. With some Rihanna song playing in the background, it set such a light mood that even Bella had to feel a bit uplifted.

She scanned over the roped section that led to the counter, and then spotted Mike at the wooden table near the window.

He had a small smile on his face as he watched her come closer. Dressed in a casual t-shirt, Teddy wore a dark blazer over it with jeans. He looked refreshed and in a good mood.

Seeing him in the bright daylight, Bella couldn't deny Mike the word: _hot._

"I ordered a Caramel Frap for you." As if he already knew what she liked, Mike pointed to the Starbucks coffee when she sat down in front of him.

Bella glanced to see that he had ordered the Green Tea Frap. "Thanks, but I want your drink."

Without hesitation, Mike immediately switched the drinks. "No problem."

_What kind of twisted game are you playing_?

Bella kept a small smile on her face, but took his drink. "Thanks."

"You look nice," Mike said, watching the morning light hit Bella's natural face.

"Thank you." Before coming to see him, Bella had stripped off any make-up on her face. Dressed in a simple black t-shirt and hip-hugging jeans, she wanted to present to Mike her most natural self. She knew he had liked the glitz and glamour she had on the first time they met, so Bella tried to get rid of it as much as she could.

But what Bella didn't know was that Mike didn't mind – at all. In fact, he liked a versatile woman. Smiling at her, Mike started the conversation. "So, it's Saturday, you have any plans?"

Reaching into her purse, Bella withdrew the black SamSung. "Here's your phone."

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Mike didn't even care about his phone.

"Is it that obvious?" Bella raised an eyebrow. Angling her head, she played dumb.

"So you're the wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am- type." Mike let out a laugh as if it was remotely funny.

Bella allowed her lips to curl into a smile. "What do you fucking want from me ?"

"Your time," he simply said. "Dropping me off like a hitchhiker at the club the other day wasn't the closure I was looking for."

Bella kept eye contact with him as she smiled with amusement. "Why – are you pregnant?"

Mike laughed. He was starting to really like her sarcastic personality. Too bad Mike didn't realize that he had already _fallen_ in love with it. "You didn't answer my question."

"How I feel about commitment?" Bella instantly remembered that rhetorical question. "Mike, you and I crossed paths because – let's face it, in a way we're whores. Who meets, get drunk, and then screws the living daylights out of each other when they first meet?"

Mike's eyes never wavered as he kept them clued on Bella. She was too blunt for his liking right now. Bella really knew how to switch moods.

Mike replied, "Whores get paid. Did I pay you? Did you pay me? No. We're not whores. If you want to put it in that light, I'll do it correctly for you. We're players – playing on the same board game."

"And I won," Bella chimed in. "You called me out here didn't you?"

"I like you," Mike said simply. "Who said players don't fall in love?"

Tossing her head back, Bella let out a laugh so freely that she couldn't believe she was exposing her teeth.

It was the kind of laugh that momentarily made her so happy that she wished she was able to do it more often. But what had triggered her laughter was because Mike used the word: love.

It was too fucking funny not to laugh at.

Watching her laugh, Mike sat quietly as he waited for her to finish. She looked like a different girl when she laughed. Mike knew that Bella was hiding behind her mocking laughter; girls like her _always_ hid.

"Did you have fun?" Mike asked her when Bella finally stopped laughing.

With a smile still on her face, she replied, "I like you _too_. That was the funniest thing I've heard in a while. Thanks."

"Glad I could be your comic relief." Mike smiled back at her. Watching Bella's body language, he realized he had her attention now. "But I like to see you again."

Bella placed a hand against the side of her mouth. She looked like she was trying to act coy and sweet, but inside Bella had calmed down.

Mike was calculating too much.

He was a player.

She was a player.

When two players meet – the double-standards clashed.

"What do you _really_ want from me Mike?" Bella blew through his mask. "Besides what you already got the other night."

"I told you – your time," Mike simply replied. "What, you think I'm kidding?"

"I'm not girlfriend material."

"So you just go around screwing random people."

Bella narrowed her eyes at him, no longer amused. "Tell me why is it that when a man sleeps with 20 girls, he's considered a pimp, a _player_. Then, when a girl does the same thing, she's considered a _slut_, a _whore_, a _prostitute_. Do you think that society double-standard is fair? Only men can play and women are nothing more than their toys? Why can't women play you men and be considered an equal?"

Mike wasn't expecting that from Bella at all. He stared at how riled up she got at a simple sentence. In that immediate moment, Mike realized he had underestimated her. She was completely different from any other girls he had ever met by far. There was something else to Bella's aggressive demeanor, some sort of pain underneath the coldness of her eyes.

Bella had been hurt before . . . .

Getting up from her place, Bella pulled out a couple of bills. Ending this meeting with a victory, Bella flashed him a small smile. "Thanks for the drinks."

Mike got up too, grabbing for her arm before she left. "I didn't mean it like that."

Bella turned around, facing him face-to-face. Scanning his eyes, she replied, "I know you didn't. But see? I told you, I'm not girlfriend material. I speak my mind too well to be in a relationship. There's your commitment answer."

"I'll make you fall for me," Mike said, simply out of thin air. It was the only kind of answer he could muster. "I guarantee you, I'll treat you better than the guy that turned you into what you are now."

Bella froze. "What are you talking about?"

"There's only one reason why you're so defensive and hungry for some-kind of affection." Stepping closer to her, Mike leaned in and whispered, "I don't want to know who he is or how he hurt you, but I can promise you, I'll treat you a thousand times better than he did."

Without another word, Mike gave Bella a quick peck on the cheek before he left her standing there like a fool from the effects of his words.

Even after Mike had left Starbucks, Bella stood in her place. Her eyes turned back to the table where Mike's cell phone still was.

_What the hell are you thinking about Bella?_

_He made a promise – a fucking promise. That should send you running a mile a minute. _

_What – you didn't expect it?_

_Of course. Players always come up with new game, you should know. _

_You know players make promises all the time; they litter them everywhere. Promises are nothing more than simple words coming together to give you false hope. You know better Bella. You fucking __know__ better. _

_You were burned once, don't get another fucking scar. If you do, I won't even try to help you heal this time. I'll just leave you to die._

*** * * * **

*Ding*

"Shit, I can't walk!" Anthony moaned when the elevator opened.

Allowing his friend to lean against him, Jacob started dragging Anthony out into the hallway.

"I'm dying Jacob. I'm dying," Anthony continued moaning. He was still covered in sweat and red in the face. Even though Anthony had passed the physical test, he was sore and weak from it. It was worse than yesterday. Anthony ate too much this morning, which was why his body took such a beating after the test.

Jacob had accompanied Anthony to the physical test and was bored out of his mind. But when Anthony came out of the gym, he was in more pain than he thought was possible. Being the good friend that he was, Jacob helped Anthony walk all the way back to the apartment.

Once the two were inside the apartment, they realized Bella wasn't home yet. Jacob was helping Anthony into the living room when the doorbell rang.

"You okay man?" Jacob let go of Anthony as he turned back toward the door.

"I'll be fine. I'll just lay on the couch and die." Anthony hopped over to the couch and then collapsed on it.

Letting out a laugh, Jacob shook his head. "You're so weak."

"This time, I ate too much food," Anthony groaned.

Walking back into the hall, Jacob face the front door. When he opened it, he immediately took a step back. "Who are you guys?"

A man was dressed in a dark blue outfit holding up a long clipboard. "Is this Miss Isabella Swan's residence?"

Jacob nodded. "Yes."

"Okay." The delivery man stepped back to reveal the ten people in line. They all were wearing the same uniformed shirt, holding up bouquets and vases filling and spilling out with roses. "There's 100 of them sir, so if you don't mind, please step back. Also, can you sign for record that these roses were delivered here?"

Confused, Jacob stepped back, holding the door as the people filed in. Taking the clipboard from the delivery man, Jacob signed his name sloppily.

He watched as his workers started spreading out around the apartment. Placing the bouquets and vases of roses around the hall, and then eventually going into the living room, there were too many too count.

"What the fuck – " Anthony sat up from the couch and stared in surprise at the scene. "Who the hell are you people?"

"We're delivering roses for Miss Isabella Swan."

*** * * * **

Bella didn't know why she didn't go home straight after the meeting with Mike. She lingered at the Starbucks place, and then went to a convenience store across the street for some magazines and candy bars.

In a way, Bella was trying to shake the feelings Mike had given to her. She hated how he had made her think. She felt so helpless at how he seemingly read her like a book. Bella even contemplated on calling Mike when she held his cell phone in her hands.

She wanted him to come back and they would have a fair match this time. But, Bella knew it was too late and it would make her look like a fool if she did.

With nothing of particular interest and thoughts that bothered her, Bella decided to go home finally.

Allowing chocolate to melt at the tip of her tongue, Bella stepped out of the elevator when it stopped on the second floor. Holding the fashion magazines in her arms, she headed toward apartment #4.

Expecting an empty apartment, Bella opened the door and literally sucked in her breath.

_Roses_.

Ribbons of red, blooming roses were littered everywhere around her apartment. A good amount of petals were all over the hallway floor while their counterparts were either stuck in glass vases or in perfect arrangements of bouquets.

"What the fuck is this– " Bella mumbled under her breath. "Anthony – did you do this?"

Anthony was walking out of the living room to the hall when he heard the front door open. In his hand, he was holding a baloney sandwich. Staring at his sister, he rolled his eyes in frustration. "They were delivered to you. I swear, Bella – you _need_ to stop dating these cliché guys because they end up doing corny crap like this."

"It smells nice though." Jacob followed behind Anthony. He was holding a turkey sandwich in his hands. The two were eating a late lunch.

Bella stared at the teenagers, but she was at a lost for words.

"I'm living in a house full of roses. We'll never meet chicks this way Jacob," Anthony complained to his friend.

"Shame," Jacob replied sarcastically as he bit into his sandwich.

Ignoring the two teenage boys, Bella leaned over. A small vase filled with a dozen roses was holding a card at their tips. Extending her hand, Bella picked up the small white card.

"Careful Bella, they have thorns." Jacob tried warning her, but it was too late.

The thorn pricked Bella's index finger and blood slowly gushed out of it. Barely bringing it up to her lips to stop the blood, Bella flipped open the card.

Inside, with neat handwriting, Mike had written: How do you feel about commitment?

Bella couldn't believe it.

_Mike._.

Mike was _courting_ her.

* * *

Are we finally getting somewhere?

If you hate Mike, don't worry, he's not going to stay long and hog Bella.

If you love Edward and want him in the picture, I'm sorry, but you're going have to wait a while.

Why? Because that's how I roll.

Please review and I'll love you forever.


	7. Chapter 7

Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

Thank you to all those fuckingtastic reviews, and especially to **Chrissy Masen Magnitude** for hanging in there with me!

* * *

Something like that.

It was something like that.

_"Bella belongs to the 99% statistics of women who love roses. Tell me, why does a woman love it so much when a man buys her roses? Does she actually like the rose? Or does she like the fact that her man bought it for her? You know what I've learned about women? It's one thing to give a woman a diamond and it's quite another to give her a dozen roses. Don't you think?"_

"What nonsense are you saying now? Hahaha. Stop talking and kiss me."

Yeah. It was definitely something like that.

The memory came in droves.

It was intoxicating – even for Bella- and she was the one that was remembering it. Although the memory was completely irrelevant to what was going on in her life right now, Bella couldn't help but remember it.

It was the type of memory that no matter how much one tried to oppress it – tie it down in chains and locked away in a room with no windows – it still finds a crack to seep through and haunt.

It was that type of memory.

Within hours of receiving such a rosy gesture from Mike, Bella was swinging on the tanned hammock out on the quaint balcony of her luxury apartment condo. The evening wind felt nice against her skin while she munched on a bag of chips, idly staring at the sky. Below and far-stretched from the balcony was the view of the sparkling city. Twilights of red, blue, and yellow dots glinted and shimmered all around Bella, but she was too preoccupied to notice.

With Mike's sentimental note in her left hand and his cell phone in her other, Bella leaned into the hammock swinging in a rhythm. Tucking her index finger-nail into the bottom of her lip, she stared up at the sky.

Emotionally: she was neutral.

Feeling: she was uneasy.

Thought-wise: she was blank.

*** * * * **

"Are you eating well?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sleeping well?"

"Yes."

"How is Anthony?"

"He's good."

"How's his sister? Is she okay with you two staying at her place?"

"Yes, mom."

"Is she a nice girl?"

Jacob paused, but not because of his mother's question from the other side of the phone line. Something had caught his eye.

Retracting his footsteps, he moved back toward his bedroom window. He had passed it too quickly due to his habit of walking back and forth during phone conversations. But Jacob had caught something interesting.

Leaning against the large window sill, Jacob stared down at the first floor's balcony. Now that it was nearly 11:30, the city lights were shimmering and glittering as the backdrop of the night sky. The hammock swayed slightly when the night wind whipped around balcony.

"Jacob, are you still there?"

"Yeah. Sorry mom, can you hold on?"

Jacob stared and realized that there was someone on the hammock. Taking a closer look, he realized it was Bella. Spread across in the hammock, with a bag of chips on her stomach and some other items in her hands, she was fast asleep.

Staring at her for as long as he dared to, Jacob moved toward his bed where the baby blue blanket was still folded. Wrapping it underneath his right armpit as he turned to his bedroom door, Jacob answered, "Yes, she's nice, mom."

*** * * * **

*Ding Dong*

*Ding Dong Ding Dong Ding Ding Dong*

"Shit!" As he rushed down the staircase with just blue boxers on and tousled hair, Anthony let out an irritated groan when his left foot caught at the bottom. It was only eight in the morning and the house was bombarded with the door bell. Taking a quick glance through the hallway, to the living room, Anthony could see his sister fast asleep on the sofa facing the TV – wrapped tightly in a baby blue blanket.

Because she was a light sleeper, Bella stirred on the sofa. Without opening her eyes, she knew it was Anthony from the way he pounded down the staircase; he was the only person she knew that always tripped on the last step of any staircase.

*Ding Dong Ding Ding Ding Dong*

The bell rang incessantly again.

"Fuck!" Agitated, Anthony made a face as he opened the door. "HEY– do you know what . . . ."

"Morning!" Alice Hale's brightly lit morning face grinned at him from the other side of the door. Dressed in a tight blue and black spandex outfit, her hair was wrapped in a tight ponytail.

In her hand, she was holding onto two large tanned mats.

Anthony, struck by the sight of one of his sister's friend, stood rooted his spot. He didn't even notice he was half-naked until Alice poked at his upper-abs. "Hey honey, Angela was right. You did grow up!"

Still rooted to his spot, Anthony could feel his heart picking up speed and running. Awareness slammed into his face, but not hard enough to snap him out of his daze.

Alice was standing just on the other side of the door, looking so breathtakingly beautiful. Of all the friends that Bella had, Anthony definitely liked Alice the most. From the way she smiled, to the way she looked, and to her personality – Anthony always went gaga when she was around.

Because he had not seen her for the last two years, Anthony could feel his feelings washing over him as if they had never faded.

"Yo – half-pint, are you gonna let me stand out here?"Alice, completely oblivious to Anthony's puppy-crush on her, snapped him out of his trance.

Only half-blushing, half-mumbling, Anthony stepped aside. "I didn't know you were coming over Alice."

"I always come over on Sundays. Your sister and I do our Yoga on Sundays." Stepping into the rose-infested hallway, Alice gasped. "Oh my god, who threw up roses in this place? Whoa– is Bella opening up a flower shop or something? Where's your sister?"

Anthony retracted into the living room. Then, leaning sideways, he pointed out in the direction – never taking his eyes off of Alice.

Wrapped up in her blanket, Bella slowly got up from the couch. Once she was introduced, Bella shuffled into the hallway to greet her friend. Asking a useless question, Bella still asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Don't you look like the perfect nightmare." Alice scanned Bella's poofy hair to her morning face. "Mind telling me about the rose-littered place? Did you have a toga party and didn't invite me?"

Bella let out a sigh, realizing she had forgotten it was Sunday. Wrapping the baby blue blanket tighter around herself, she headed down the hallway to the bathroom. "I'll be back."

As Bella walked away, she heard the distinct conversation between Alice and her brother – Alice did most of the talking of course. "Wanna help?" Alice turned on Anthony, grinning as she held up the mats. Without waiting for him to answer, she threw them at him anyway. "You'll help."

Closing the bathroom door behind her, Bella hung the baby blue blanket next to the towels before she undid her sweatpants. After relieving her full-bladder, she turned toward the sink.

Staring at her morning reflection, Bella groaned lightly. She did look like a nightmare. Touching her right eyelid, Bella realized that they were puffy. Quickly abolishing all thoughts from her mind, Bella sucked it up. Performing her usual morning ritual, Bella managed to brush her teeth, gurgle some Listerine, wash her face, and apply some deodorant before stepping back out into the hallway.

"Morning Bella."

". . . Morning."

Staring up at Jacob, Bella could see the boy staring intently back at her. It was taking Bella some time to get used to his presence.

Bella wasn't quite used to seeing someone else other than her brother in her apartment. She hadn't had time to actually get to know Jacob – she had always remembered him as Anthony's friend – nothing more. But to see him now standing in front of her, greeting her, Bella's social skills reared their blunt heads.

"Were you out here the whole time?" Bella spoke up first – the thought of Jacob standing outside, hearing her pee was a little unnerving.

"Huh? . . . Oh . . . no. I – I just got here." Jacob looked down at the wooden floor, as if something interesting was there.

Bella followed his gaze. The corners of her lips turned in amusement. ". . . Well – it's your turn."

Jacob nodded. "Thanks."

Bella stepped aside, letting him get past her. God, he's so tall, Bella thought when Jacob 's shoulder brushed against hers when he went into the bathroom. But just as he was about to close the door behind him, she turned. "Hey."

Abruptly turning, Jacob looked back at her.

Pointing to the baby blue blanket that still hung next to the towels in the bathroom, Bella pointed, "Thanks for that last night."

Looking at the blanket and then turning back to Bella, he couldn't stop the blood from rushing to his cheeks in time. Blushing, Jacob managed a faint, "Oh – I saw that you were asleep outside and it was getting cold so I – "

But before Jacob could finish his sentence, Bella had turned on her heels and walked away. "It's a blanket Jacob. You just say, 'you're welcome'."

Jacob watched Bella's retreating back, not quite sure what to think of her – yet sure enough to think.

*** * * * **

"Inhale – exhale. Now relax your shoulders as you extend your right leg."

Trying to keep his balance as well as he could, Anthony failed with style when he landed on his right backside with a thud on the tan mat. "Oof! OUCH!"

"Are you okay?!" Letting go of her pose, Alice turned to him immediately. Reaching out, she clutched his right ankle with her left hand. Extending her right, she placed it against his pulsating cheeks. "Hahahaha . . . I have never seen anyone fall during the first position."

"I – it," stammering, Anthony tried to think of something clever to say.

But all he could think was, "Alice Hale is touching my ankle and my cheek! AHHHHH! I hope I did break something!"

"He falls all the time."

The sliding doors to the balcony suctioned as they departed. Bella, refreshed from her morning routine and having changed into her black-and-white yoga outfit, stepped outside. The bright morning sunlight hit her face, giving her some peace.

Making her way over to where Alice and Anthony had sprawled out the yoga mats, Bella walked past them toward the hammock. Right where she had left them last night, Mike's cell phone and note were still there.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Alice was asking Anthony in the background.

"I'm fine. Just a little slip. " Anthony stood up, hopping around and then started into some jumping-jacks to prove his point.

"Hahahaha. Maybe your sister and I should do some cardio warm-ups before yoga," Alice laughed, joining in.

Ignoring the ruckus they were causing in the background, Bella picked up the blinking cell phone.

Flipping it open, Bella noticed that it was low on batteries before seeing the text message: Did you receive the roses? I hope they smell nice; I ordered them scented. Are you busy tomorrow night?

Gripping the cell phone as she read his message, Bella felt the rush of nerves vibrating through her. Letting out a sigh as she flipped the phone shut, Bella threw it back onto the hammock.

"Get lost Anthony. We're gonna do some yoga." Turning back to where he and Alice were goofing off, Bella stepped onto her yoga mat.

The smile fading from both of their lips caused them to realize Bella wasn't in the best mood. Lowering his head, Anthony muttered bye to Alice before turning back towards the sliding doors.

"Why are you so mean to him?" Taking a seat next to Bella on her own yoga mat, Alice leaned over to her friend. "You okay? You're more moody than usual."

Extending her arms into the air as she crossed her legs Indian-style, Bella closed her eyes to suck in deep air. The cool morning air burned her lungs until she finally released. Bringing her extending arms back down to chest level, Bella placed her palms together. ". . . You know where the roses came from?"

". . . A flower shop?" Alice joked, breaking into neck roll first.

"Mike," Bella replied simply.

"Mike? Wow, I never knew he was so romantic," Bella mumbled, still in her trance.

"He's got it in his mind that our night-thing is blooming into a relationship. I don't want anything more than what we did." Bella stopped stretching to look at her friend.

"You want my advice?" Seeing the serious look on Bella's face, Alice's asked.

"Don't I always?" Bella replied. It wasn't the first time she asked Alice's advice on how to get rid of clingy guys.

Alice shrugged. "Give the guy a chance. If he still wants to hang out, then hang out."

Bella scoffed, nudging Alice's side. "Did your Seth buy you some romance novels?"

"Bella, I'm serious. What's the harm in hanging out? At least he gave a shit to send roses. How many one-night stands sent you roses? During this time and age, it only means one thing," Alice cracked her knuckles.

Bella, watching her moves, did the same thing. "You speak with confidence. Angela tells me you guys knew him a long time ago huh?"

Alice shrugged. "Yeah, but I didn't personally talk to him a lot. From what I've heard, Mike's a pretty good guy. It's a shame you didn't meet him two summer's ago at Rosalie's party. And if he's interested in you, that's something right? He's successful with the Mike nightclubs around the world – you know about the one in L.A. right?"

Bella narrowed her voice. "Aren't you full of information. He's the owner of the Mike nightclubs chain?"

"You . . . didn't know?" Alice drawled, rolling her eyes with a sharp gasp. "God Bella – the clubs are named after the guy for god-sakes."

"Great." Bella rolled her own eyes back. "No wonder he has all the time in the world to stalk me."

"Hahaha . . . look, give the guy some credit. He's trying hard."

"Yeah well – "

"Trust me. He's a good guy."

Eyeing Alice as if she knew something she didn't, Bella went on, "Tell me more about this Mike guy."

"I don't know much," Alice replied. "I really don't. But you would've met him last week if you hadn't miss Rosalie's dress-fitting. After he disappeared to Canada for two years, he kinda disappeared from New York. But I still remember hearing only good things about him. Would I lie to you?"

"I don't know, would you?" Bella raised an eyebrow.

"Why would I? I'm trying to help my single friend hook up with a hot guy. It's called doing a good deed." Alice made a face at Bella as she burst out laughing on her own.

Bella took in the information, but was still suspicious about Alice's attitude. "How do you know he's a good guy –"

"Is that the friend Anthony was telling me about? You got him living in your place too? Why did you not tell me?!" Alice was no longer paying attention to Bella when something had caught her eye. Twisting her body, she was staring through the glass-sliding doors into the living room where Jacob was talking to Anthony. "That guy's fucking hot!"

"You have your Seth, remember?" Bella followed her gaze, reminding Alice of her boyfriend. "Your boyfriend?"

"That doesn't mean I can't look . . . "

*** * * * **

"Is she still looking?"

"Yeah."

"I think she wants me!" Giggling as he picked up a handful of rose petals, Anthony threw it at Jacob who had to dodge the fluttering petals.

"Dude! Are you out of your mind?" Jacob turned back, staring out at the balcony. He saw Bella's friend, Alice, raising up a hand to wave at him while Bella yawned before turning her back on them.

Anthony, still thinking that Alice was staring at him, decided to wave back to her. He was disappointed when Bella had spun her back around – forcing the boys to stare at their backs. Jutting out his lower lip, he cursed silently how his sister was always spoiling his chances of flirting with her friends – especially Alice.

"You think she's hot?" Anthony asked, flopping down the side of the couch where he could keep an eye on Alice.

Jacob shrugged, taking the opposite seat. "I guess."

"You guess?" Anthony scoffed, picking up a throw-pillow and aimed it at Jacob. "Here, maybe smacking some sense into you will change that answer. Alice is the hottest woman to ever walk the planet."

Jacob dodged the intended pillow. "There are hotter women," Jacob mumbled, looking back to see Bella and Alice standing tall with their arms extended full length – reaching all the way down to their toes in a fleeting position. "What are they doing out there?"

"Yoga," Anthony replied, staring at Alice's form.

"And they do that?" Jacob, having only heard of Yoga once or twice, wanted to laugh at the strange poses Alice and Bella were displaying out in the balcony. But he had to give it to the girls for holding onto the strange poses with grace.

"Yeah, they stretch the entire time. It makes their bones grow or something like that," came Anthony's simply reply. "God, she's hot. I wonder if she has a boyfriend. She's always had a boyfriend. I think she's never been single."

"Bella?" Without really thinking, Jacob blurted out.

"Eww gross!" Anthony choked, leaning forward from his place on the sofa. "Dude, I'm talking about Alice! Why would I call my own sister hot? That's some hill-billy incestuous comment."

"Haha – sorry." Jacob only apologized. Getting up from his place on the couch, he turned back to Anthony. "Let's head to the gym or something. Get the day started. You wanna get some breakfast and bounce?"

Anthony, never taking his eyes off of Alice, shook his head. "Nah . . . ."

"Dude, focus." Jacob nudged his friend's shoulder, turning back to glance at Alice and Bella. The two girls were now in another strange pose, making an angle that made Jacob grimace in pain if he ever attempted.

"Dude . . . you do not understand that she's my dream girl. She's – " Anthony quickly shut up when he saw that Bella was heading back inside. Alice was still in her yoga stance outside, completely immersed now.

"Hey Bell– " Anthony started to say when Bella slid open the glass sliding doors. Without glancing at Jacob or Anthony, Bella headed toward the kitchen. Within seconds, she came back out with two water bottles.

Without glancing at Anthony, Bella said clearly, "Stop staring at her you creep. And yes, she has a boyfriend."

"How – what – sh – " Anthony hissed, but not loud enough for Bella to hear. He watched in utter defeat as Bella slid back the sliding doors, walking back out to the balcony. When she reached Alice, she handed her one of the water bottles while saying something that caused Alice to burst out laughing, spitting her water everywhere.

Jacob laughed as he watched the scene.

"What are you laughing for?!" Anthony asked, looking at his friend in surprise. His ears started to turn red from embarrassment. Leave it up to Bella to always embarrass him. How as she able to read his lips from all the way out there?

Jacob only continued to laugh.

Scoffing, Anthony stood up from his place from the couch. As he headed into the kitchen, Anthony said under his breath, "Why are you laughing at me when you're the same way too?"

Abruptly, Jacob stopped laughing to watch Anthony's retreating back. "Huh?"

* * *

Different Mike from the normal world eh?

Hint: Jacob is actually A LOT closer to Bella than you think. *smiles*

Drop me a review and I'll give you all chocolate cake with chocolate icing with chocolate milk. =)


	8. Chapter 8

I don't own Twilight. Maybe one day in another lifetime.

* * *

"Manager Bella."

Snapping herself out of her daze, Bella turned back to see Lauren holding up two Zac Posen gowns in front of her face. Looking at the two gorgeous pieces dangling on hangers in front of her, it took Bella a while to comprehend what was going on.

Her mind was in-and-out of the _Chanel_ store.

This was one of the reasons why she hated Monday mornings. Going back to work was never a good idea after such a hectic weekend. Her mind was scattered everywhere.

To add to the Mike affair, after Alice had came over yesterday morning for yoga, Bella found it quite exhausting trying to shake Anthony off their trail. Although Jacob left for the gym, Anthony stayed back to make small talk with Alice. It bothered Bella that her brother was always trying to hook up with her friends.

Never in a million years would they be interested in her younger brother because of the simple fact that he was too young. So after Alice left, she and Anthony had gotten into _another_ argument. Some words were exchanged, but the overall outcome was Bella felt a little guilty when Anthony started to get teary-eyed, accusing her of not wanting him to be happy.

All Bella could do was slap him upside the head, telling him to "man up" and that this had nothing to do with happiness. So she added a new rule for him: As long as you're living in my place, stop coming onto my friends.

It wasn't the first argument that Bella made Anthony cried. Anthony was once in a one-sided love with Jessica before he moved on to Alice. But that was two-years ago. Sometimes, even Bella couldn't understand the relationship between her and Anthony. Bella felt like his mother more than his sister; teenagers and testosterones were not something Bella cared to be sensitive about.

"Manager Bella," Lauren called again.

"I'm sorry." Bella shook her head, shaking the exhausting memory away. "What is it?"

"A customer would like to purchase these two dresses. I need your signature. He's paying by credit and would like them to be wrapped in gift boxes and sent to this address." Lauren handed the large, two-layered receipt strip to Bella.

Without bothering to look at the address, Bella's hand glided down to the very end of the receipt where a dark line spread across the page. Twisting her approval signature on it, Bella ripped off the top layer for the store's copy and left the other on top of the box. Turning on her heels to leave the counter, Bella realized she wasn't done yet.

"Manager Bella, the purchaser wants you to pick out the gift boxes." Lauren stopped her.

Letting out a sigh, Bella looked back at the two dresses. Although she had worked for Chanel for a quite a while, being the head-manager at the place, she had never been able to buy one of the dresses there.

They were always too expensive or overtly attention-grabbing. Looking at the two gowns, identical in their heart-strapless cut with diamonds buds strategically placed up and down the layered-silk fabric, Bella wondered who was the fool that was willing to spend a total of $10,000.

"They're beautiful aren't they?" Lauren asked, still holding up the gowns by the hangers. She stared at white one and then the pink one in awe. "I spoke to the guy that bought it this morning. I think he's buying it for his girlfriend."

"Don't they always?" Bella moved across the large, oval-glass counter. Stooping down, she looked through the shelves for a gift box. Extracting two large white boxes with the words _Chanel _spread across them, Bella placed it back on the counter. Taking the gowns from Lauren, Bella stripped the hanger off it before folding it inside the box carefully.

Although she would never show it, Bella had to admit that they were beautiful gowns and wondered what they would feel like on her body.

"When is the delivery guy coming?" Bella glanced across the room at the store's big ticking clock.

"Around two," Lauren replied. "We have some packages being dropped off too."

"Manager Bella – a customer would like your attention." Another employee poked her head down the staircase, waving at Bella.

Nodding, Bella turned on her heels. Passing racks and rows of expensive, Chanel signature styles, Bella looked around the semi-empty store. The only women who were browsing the stores were either in small groups or talking excessively on their cell phones. They didn't look like they needed help, so Bella headed around back towards the staircase that led to the upstairs area of the store where the two Zac Posen gowns originated from in the store.

"What's wrong?" Bella asked as she descended the staircase.

"She's having problems taking the dress off," the employee leaned in to whisper in Bella's ear.

"Why?"

"Because she's fat."

Only at work was Bella able to take her mind off of her personal life.

*** * * * **

"Take it easy man."

"UGH!"

Watching Anthony continue his running streak on the treadmill, Jacob casually jogged on his. With steady sweat running down his face, onto his neck, and eventually panning out on his ripped abs, Jacob was steadying his pace on the cardio machine while Anthony was pushing his limits.

"See, if you had gone with me to the gym yesterday, you wouldn't have to be making it up today."

"That's not why I'm running like this, asshole."

Glancing at Anthony, not really sure if there was any other valid reason for him to be running like a maniac, Jacob waited for his friend to continue. Reaching out to push various buttons on the machine, Jacob slowed down from his jog to a power walk. Breathing in and out, he ran his fingers through his sweat-matted hair.

"She – thinks – I – don't – have – a – chance – with – Alice," Anthony huffed as he continued running. "We even got into an argument over it. So stupid."

"Dude, if you really like Alice – why don't you try getting with her? Don't let your sister know. She's right for not wanting you two to hook up." Jacob replied.

"How?!" Anthony snapped, looking back at Jacob as he continued running. The sweat was pouring all over his face now; his bangs bounced up and down his eyes, stinging them. But Anthony was determined to run the tension out of his body.

"Think about it – if you were her. How weird would it be for her friend and brother to be going out?" Jacob pointed out. He shrugged, extending his legs to keep up his power-walk pace.

Anthony faced forward, mumbling under his breath. "Sometimes I feel like Bella pushes me around too much. When our parents aren't around, she acts like she's the boss of me."

Jacob smirked, shaking his head. "She's just looking out for your best interest."

"Hey!" Suddenly, Anthony stopped running. Turning to face Jacob, he accused his friend, "Are you taking her side?"

Shaking his head with wide-eyes, Jacob denied, "No! I didn't say that."

Breathing so hard that his naked chest continued to rise and fall, Anthony reached out for the towel to wipe himself. "Bella just thinks that I won't be able to handle dating any of her friends. When I liked Jessica, she told me Jessica would eat me alive and then spit me out. Now, she says Alice's just going to treat me like a puppy if I pursue her."

Jacob let out a low chuckle. Anthony sure didn't waste his time moving from one crush to the other.

Truth was, Jacob really didn't have an opinion about the problem Anthony was currently facing. But because it had only been a couple of days since he had lived with Bella and Anthony, he was starting to get used to the crazy issues the two siblings were always bickering about. But the issue of dating each other's friends was one of the funniest issues Jacob had ever encountered. He had an older brother and that was pretty much it. He would never dream of dating his brother's girlfriends simply because they regarded him as jailbait. But here, in New York, that didn't seem to be a problem for Bella's friends.

"How long have you been trying to hook up with Alice?" The thought struck Jacob.

Anthony paused, biting his lower lip as he thought about it. "I've liked her since two-years ago. You know – actually, I've always had this habitual crush on her. I'd like her every time she shows up."

"You move on pretty quickly," Jacob commented.

Anthony made a sad face. "I just can't stop thinking about her - you know? When you see potential."

Jacob went quiet, continuing to walk on his treadmill.

Anthony let out a sigh, glancing away. "You know what? Why am I letting Bella get me down? There are plenty of girls I can pass my time with! I'm not a date-loser like she says. I can date any other girl I want! You know what - we should just try to find girlfriends today. I'm going to prove Bella wrong!"

Jacob stifled a laugh. "What do you have in mind?"

Anthony scanned the gym. There were mostly guys, all buffed-up and mean. But Anthony's targets were already targeting him and Jacob. Anthony's lips curled into a smile.

"See those girls over there? They've been staring at us for a while." Anthony nodded his head toward the right side of the gym where two girls were glancing at him and Jacob, giggling as they pretended to lift weights.

Jacob glanced over, eyeing the two girls dressed in identical pink and white track suits. After a second look, Jacob realized they were twins. "Hey . . . they look alike."

"They're twins, duh. They're pretty cute," Anthony replied, continuing to stroll on his treadmill. "What do you think about inviting them to go out after?"

Jacob looked up at Anthony. "Since when did you become such a pimp?"

Anthony shrugged again. "New York kinda gets to you."

Jacob burst out laughing. "Okay – alright."

*** * * * **

"My life is over! There's going to be no wedding. I'm going to just die! My wedding dress! That – that fucker!" Her painful voice came over the line, cutting across the laughter Bella and Angela were sharing.

"What –" Bella abruptly stopped.

"Bella – did – did you say that?" Angela stammered.

"No. Rosalie?" Bella asked.

"I'm sorry guys, I'm just so frustrated! I'm gonna just die! He's ruining my wedding dress!" Rosalie wailed.

It was always a bad idea to three-way on a phone, especially when voices started overlapping.

But both Angela and Bella were shocked to hear Rosalie distinctively cuss. During the weekend, she had left town to make last minute corrections on her wedding dress, but it turned out things didn't go the way she wanted them to. Now that she was back in town, Rosalie had made sure to three-way with Angela and Bella right away – because Alice was busy.

"Okay, just calm down. I'm sure he'll redo what you asked him to." Bella tried to think logically as she crossed the parking lot of the store.

Now that it was seven, she was off from work and extremely exhausted. With one hand clutching her purse and the other cradling her cell phone against her ear, Bella was heading toward her parked Mercedes.

"Yeah, I mean you have weeks," Angela added.

"Weeks? It's next week you guys! It's Monday and then this weekend, and then Monday, and then that weekend. It's next week!" Rosalie was no longer herself. The panic in her voice was enough to make Bella and Angela realize how serious this was.

"Do brides always become bride-zillas?" Angela's voice could be heard over Rosalie's screaming on the phone.

Letting out a sigh, Bella tried to keep her composure as she held the Mercedes remote up to her car. Once the locks popped up, Bella opened the driver's door and got in as quickly as she could, throwing her purse aside.

Sticking the key into the ignition and turning on the engine, she said the words Rosalie wanted to hear, "I will be at your place in twenty minutes. You too Angela."

"Fuck, should we call Alice and make it a party too?" Angela asked on the other line.

"AWWW I LOVE YOU GUYS!" Rosalie screeched over the phone, sniffling away her tears.

*** * * * **

"So, you guys are new in the city? Do you like New York?"

"Loving it!"

Anthony held up the shot-glasses of Smirnoff Ice to toast the two twins. He dropped it down his throat right away, allowing the bubbles to burst. Tilting his head back, Anthony was grinning like a fool as he grabbed the twin closest to him.

Only after five shots, Anthony Swan was now officially wasted.

Jacob, sitting across from Anthony and the twin he had grabbed, was the only sober one out of the group. The two twin girls they had picked up at the gym turned out to be named Cherry and Berry.

No joke, those were their real names – or so they claimed.

The two girls turned out to be too ditzy for Jacob to take, especially Berry. She was constantly giggling before Jacob even said anything. And now that Anthony was grabbing onto Cherry, Berry was inching closer to Jacob on the couch.

The club the four were at was so loudly pulsated with music and chatter that Jacob was having a hard time holding onto his sanity. The only reason why he had tagged along with Anthony to party with these two was to get Anthony out of his grumpy state of gushing over Alice.

It seemed to work because Anthony was now allowing Cherry to plot kisses all around his face.

"You want to dance?" Berry's face suddenly came into Jacob's view. Her small, oval face accompanied with her large, alien eyes batted up at him. She was wearing so much make-up that Jacob felt if he touched it, it would feel like wiping icing off of a cake.

"Uh – " Jacob started to say.

"Yeah! Let's dance!" Anthony stood up, laughing. Wrapping an arm around Cherry, he started to walk into her until she pointed him the right direction.

"You're so silly! The dance floor is that way!" Cherry squealed, turning back to her sister. "Come on!"

"YEAH!" Before Jacob could move away from her, Berry latched onto him and pulled him up.

Pretty soon, the four of them made it onto the dark dance floor with occasional lights flashing over them. Anthony was loving every minute that Cherry was bumping and grinding onto him while Jacob was desperately trying to avoid Berry's gyrating hips that seemed to hurt his own hips more than anything. She was doing something that resembled a chicken-wobbling when her knee crashed into his thigh. Jacob almost doubled over from the pain.

"Dude, this is getting out of control. We gotta go!" Jacob screamed over the loud music into Anthony's ears.

"Yeah dude, this is going to roll!" Anthony nodded, pointing to where Cherry and Berry were now dancing with each other.

Seeing that Anthony was drunk and out-of-his-mind, Jacob grabbed his friend hurriedly. Taking advantage of the fact that Cherry and Berry were so immersed in their dancing, Jacob grabbed Anthony and disappeared into the large dance crowd.

"Hey! Where are we going?!" Anthony screamed, hitting a couple of people on his way out.

"Alice's outside!" Jacob lied.

"REALLY!" Without struggling anymore, Anthony followed Jacob. "Where? Where? Where?"

Jacob didn't even bother to answer his squirming friend until he found the back door of the club. Once he found the EXIT sign, Jacob pushed it open and threw Anthony out first.

Stumbling outside, where the night air hit them squarely, Jacob breathed in the fresh air.

"Where's Alice? Do I look good? Do I look good?" Anthony was stumbling left to right, but he grabbed onto Jacob's shoulder. Licking his right hand as he rubbed various parts of his head, Anthony was looking around the parking lot left and right.

"She -" Jacob started to say when all of a sudden, Anthony's stability broke.

"OW!" Anthony fell down onto the pavement like a plank, clutching his stomach and gagging.

"Hey, you okay?" Bending over, Jacob leaned over his friend, grabbing him fiercely. "Dude, you okay?"

"I don't feel so good," Anthony mumbled from where he was. "Jacob..."

"What?"

"Did Alice see that?"

*** * * * **

The music inside the elevator soothed her as Bella leaned against it, closing her eyes. Allowing it to lift up to the second floor, where she lived in the apartment complex, Bella embraced the peaceful seconds she was experiencing.

With her purse and keys dangling by her sides, she didn't know how she was going to wake up in the morning and go to work. It was now 12:45 in the morning and she was finally home after such an exhausting night at Rosalie's house.

Alice, Angela and Bella had managed to control a hysterical Rosalie after two hours of convincing her that it was not the end of the world her wedding dress was getting redone – and that it would be redone in time for the perfect wedding she had always wanted. Afterwards, the four friends lingered around for dinner and more unnecessary conversating that only a group of women could carry out.

But now that she was feeling the full-effects of it, Bella wished that she had had left earlier.

*Ding*

The elevator slid open, revealing her dimly lit hallway. Dragging her feet as she walked toward apartment #4, Bella took her time as she entered the code on the touch-pad. It bleeped open and Bella stepped into a brightly-lit apartment.

"Anthony?"

Slamming the door to a close behind her, Bella walked into the living room to see Anthony sprawled across the couch with his eyes half-opening and looking like a mess. The t-shirt he was wearing was pulled up to his stomach and the jeans he was wearing was all dirtied. From the looks of it, and her experience, Bella didn't have to ask her brother what happened. He probably had too much to drink and threw up most of it.

But for conversational purposes , Bella asked anyway. "What happened to you?" She stepped over the sofa to have a closer look at her brother.

"Bella . . . I . . . I drank," Anthony groaned. "I swear I'll never do it againnnnn. . . . "

"Oh god." Bella rolled her eyes, taking a step back from him. The odor of barf and alcohol was so strong when he spoke that Bella almost vomited. "Just because we had a fight yesterday, you go and get wasted today? God Anthony, when are you going to grow up?"

"Look." Anthony lifted up a feeble hand to point to the right of Bella. "For you."

Bella followed his finger and saw the bag. Even before touching it, she immediately recognized it as the bag Lauren had placed the two gift boxes in, containing the two Zac Posen dresses inside of it.

Lifting it up, Bella extracted the gift card.

"Jacob found it outside of our apartment when we got home . . . . I think it was delivered here this morning," Anthony mumbled, burying his face back into the couch. "Where is that fool? My head is killing me! Doesn't take that long to find pills . . . damn . . . ."

Ignoring her brother, Bella flipped open the gift card: _Even though you work at Chanel, I wanted to buy you these dresses. I couldn't decide which would look better on you, so I got you white and pink. We'll talk soon – Mike_.

_Very smooth_. Letting out a low chuckle, Bella closed the card. She couldn't believe she didn't bother to look at the address when she approved it this morning. Turning on her heels, Bella walked toward the coffee table in the center of the living room where she had tucked Mike's cell phone underneath a pile of receipts and cards.

The minute she found it, Bella flipped it open to find that it was low on batteries.

Pressing, _incoming calls_, back to the number Mike had used to call this phone when he invited her out to Starbucks, Bella pressed _talk_. The other line rang for a good five consecutive times before it was picked up.

"Do you like them?" Without even bothering to ask who was calling him, Mike's confident voice filled the line.

"I _love_ them." Bella emphasized on it the word "love". "_Very_ clever. I have to give that to you. But also stalkerish. How did you know I work at Chanel?"

"Hahaha . . . I'm glad you like them. Listen, I'm busy right now. I'll call you back. Let's hang out tomorrow night at Les Deux," Mike replied. In the background, his voice was slightly muffled due to the loud, pumping hip-hop music. No doubt he was at one of the clubs he owned.

"We'll talk." Bella hung up the phone, not wanting Mike to be the one to leave her.

Turning back to see that Anthony was now officially passed out, Bella could hear the silent ringing through her apartment. Leaning over to look down at her brother, she considered picking Anthony up to his room. "Are you okay?"

"Pills . . . . my head hurts noona," Anthony sniffled into the couch.

Bella stood up straight, deciding whether to let him suffer or help him, when she suddenly remembered about Jacob's existence.

"Anthony . . . where's your friend at?"

"Looking for pills."

As if something came over her, Bella immediately turned on her heels.

Running out of the living room and up the staircase in a rapid movement, she almost tripped when she finally descended the stairs. At the end of the long hallway, she could see her bedroom door was slightly ajar. For some reason, her heart started to pick up pace. Inching closer and closer to her bedroom, Bella tried to rationalize with herself, but fear took over her as she stood in front of her door.

Pushing it open, her worst thoughts came to life.

Standing over her dresser-drawer, the one with the lighted-mirror perched on top of it, Jacob was looking through her drawers that mostly contained miscellanous items.

In his right hand, he was already holding what he was looking for. Two of the drawers were open – one of them was the medication drawer and the other - Jacob was not moving from what he had just found.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Bursting through the door, Bella stormed into her room.

Something came over her, and the emotion of anger flared from within her.

"Oh!" Jacob jumped, clearly surprised. To excuse himself for being in her room, he quickly launched into an explanation. "Sorry Bella. Anthony's passed out from drinking. I've been looking everywhere for some pills to help his headache. I couldn't find any so I had to go in your room and – "

"GET OUT!" Bella pushed Jacob away from the drawer he had opened, almost causing him to fall. She did not want to hear any excuses or sorries. "GET OUT!"

"I'm sorry – I didn't mean –" Jacob stammered, staring at Bella in surprise. He had never seen her bursting with emotion. "I –"

"DID YOU NOT HEAR ME?! GET THE FUCK OUT!" Bella's voice was no longer contained, but now rose to scream-level. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY ROOM! GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!"

Petrified to see the tears filling her eyes, Jacob couldn't understand what he had done wrong. "But I –"

"OUT!" Picking up a handful of beauty products, Bella threw them at Jacob as hard as she could at the same time she charged at him.

Jacob stumbled, feeling bottles hitting his chest and legs. He wanted to say sorry, but nothing like that came out of his lips. Instead, he retracted out of her room slowly, staring at her with apologetic eyes. Right now, Jacob was not seeing angry-Bella – he was seeing _her_. "Bella – really, I –"

Following him, Bella didn't bother to say another word before thrusting her arms out at his chest. With one final push, Bella managed to shove Jacob cleanly out of her room.

Slamming the door in his face and locking it behind her, Bella leaned against it breathing. She stood against the door trembling, listening to Jacob's footsteps slowly retracting away from the door.

"What the fuck . . . ."Bella mumbled under her breath, leaving her place from the door. The anger inside of her still did not subside.

The damage was done.

The water had spilled from the cup.

He had seen it.

He had seen _it all_.

Taking slow, but unsteady steps towards the drawer Jacob had opened, Bella found it everything in herself not to cry as she stared down at the opened drawer and the contents inside.

_Pictures_ . . . . hundreds of pictures . . . pictures of them kissing, hugging, smiling, laughing . . . pictures of them in Toronto, in Hollywood, in Tokyo, in London, in Paris . . . pictures of them . . . of her and _Edward_.

Pictures that Bella had never burned even though she had tried so many times over to.

All of them . . . all of those pictures Bella had locked away, forgotten in that last drawer – Jacob had opened . . . and seen.

* * *

Poor Jacob.

What guy would send a girl who doesn't want to commit two designer gowns?

P.S : I know the legal drinking age in America is 21, but let's just pretend it's 18 (like Canada).


	9. Chapter 9

Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

Story is about to take a drastic turn.

Some of you might like it.

Some of you might hate it.

Tell me.

* * *

_"How much do you love me?"_

_"Do you even have to ask? It's not even a question. "_

_"So, me and you – it's a forever?"_

_"It's forevers."_

The tears rolled down Bella's cheeks. Sniffling, she buried herself under her warm covers, curling up into a ball position.

The words ran through her head like a torn-page from some book. No matter how hard to she tried to block the images from her mind, the pictures were still strewn all over her bedroom floor.

It was a drawer Bella had refused to open for the last two years.

Because she had refused to see those pictures, Bella had tried her best to forget Edward's face – forget every line, every freckle, every mark.

But now, her two-year streak was ruined – marred.

And she broke down – broke down as if she was just a simple object memories and pictures could split into infinite pieces.

You see, even after all this time, Bella Swan was still weak and emotional. If only all the people that knew her could see her now, behind the tough exterior she had laboured to build, when broken down, Bella was still the same as ever – weak and emotional.

Bella had asked Edward a lot of questions during their relationship.

Many questions.

But the question Bella never thought she would dream of asking him was, "How do I go on if you do leave me?"

She was alone.

Forever shouldn't have meant forever.

Forever should've meant how long they were together.

Edward had lied.

*** * * * **

Sorry.

He had said he was sorry.

Breaking off the piece of bread, Jacob chewed slowly once he bit into it. Occasionally, he would accompany the dry pieces with milk, but he was so immersed in his thoughts that he didn't know whether he was drinking milk or eating bread or doing it at the same time.

"Morning."

Jacob jumped from his place on the kitchen stool. Looking up, he saw Anthony giving him a questionable look as he entered the brightly lit kitchen - the lighting done by the morning sun.

"It's only me."

"I didn't hear you. How's your headache?" Jacob quickly composed himself, lowering his head once again to focus on his bread-breaking routine.

Anthony shrugged, heading over to the fridge. "Thanks to the pills you made me swallow last night, my hangover's not so bad."

Jacob mumbled. "What are friends for?"

"Those two chicks last night were pretty random huh? I guess I deserve it for drinking Smirnoff. What were their names? Strawberry? Blueberry? What?" Anthony started extracting the necessary essentials to cook a breakfast. "They were all up on us and Strawberry was like . . . ."

Jacob was no longer listening to Anthony. He was lost in his own thoughts again. Any minute now, he expected Bella to walk into the kitchen and demand for him to get out of her apartment. He was ready for it. But he wasn't so sure he would leave without a fight.

Yet, Jacob had absolutely no idea how he was going to face her after last night. She was so upset and angry at him for going through her drawers. It was entirely a mistake that he had stumbled onto that drawer.

He was worried about Anthony and every other cabinet inside the house was empty. He had no other choice but to visit Bella's room.

His only intention was to find some pills to help Anthony and leave; he had never anticipated on opening the drawer that was filled with pictures. It was so heavy that Jacob had thought it contained heavier objects, but to his surprise it was filled with pictures.

Pictures of Bella and Edward.

Pictures that documented their relationship.

Pictures that weren't meant for anyone else to see.

Jacob understood that.

Remembering the story that Anthony had told him about how bad the break-up between Bella and Edward had been, Jacob felt even worse. He had seen the tears filling up her eyes when she saw the drawer he had opened.

Something told Jacob that she hadn't opened that drawer in years. He knew it all along, but last night confirmed Jacob's thoughts.

Bella was still hurt.

"Yo – I'm talking to you."

"Huh?"

Snapping back to reality from his thoughts, Jacob stared back at Anthony.

"What's wrong with you? Spacing out? You didn't drink that much last night right?" Anthony asked, placing all the contents he had dragged out of the fridge onto the counter in front of Jacob.

"I guess," Jacob mumbled. "What were you saying?"

"Strawberry and Blueberry. Did we exchange numbers with them last night?" Anthony asked, separating packages.

Jacob let out a chuckle. "It's Cherry and Berry. And no, we didn't exchange information. Those chicks are out of control."

"But they were fun," Anthony replied. "You know –."

Like a movie star had entered the place, Bella carried a certain light in with her. Like night and day, she was a huge contrast to how she was last night.

Bella looked especially nice this morning. Her hair was swept up into a pony-tail, displaying her high, rosy cheek bones and flawless pale skin. Her large brown eyes were heavily eye-lined and painted with mascara. To finish off the high-fashion look, the tint of gold eye-shadow matched her desert-stormed colored lips. Dressed in a white blouse tucked in a black in mini-skirt for work, Bella epitomized what a manager at a store like Chanel should look. Not to mention, she reeked of a nice, smelling perfume.

Jacob stared at her until he realized he was staring at her.

Bella, on the other hand, paid no attention to him or Anthony as she waltzed into the kitchen. As if it was just another normal day, she was back to the Bella- post Edward.

"You got a meeting this morning? You look nice, Bella." Anthony complimented his sister, forgetting about the recent fight they had had. The memory seemed to have faded since he went clubbing and threw up last night. It was their brother-sister norm to go back to acting like a fight never happened. Truth was, Anthony never could stay mad at Bella long.

Bella, on the other hand, was an expert in forgetting events. "Staff meeting," Bella replied as she opened up the fridge to take out a water bottle. "Are you going to be home today?"

"Yeah. Why Bella?" Anthony asked, shifting from his place on the counter.

Reaching into her black LV purse, Bella extracted ten dollars. "Clean up the left-over rose petals."

Taking the money, Anthony gladly accepted. "There will be no traces of them existing by the time you get home today."

"_If_ I come home," Bella answered, heading out of the kitchen. "Don't ruin my house while I'm gone, or I'll kill you."

"Bye Bella!" Anthony waved after his sister's retreating back.

Watching Bella leave the kitchen as if she hadn't seen him sitting there at all, Jacob immediately got up from his kitchen stool.

Without explaining to Anthony what he was doing, Jacob left the kitchen and followed Bella's footsteps. Was she really walking away like this? Bella was a fast-walker because by the time he caught up to her, the front door had already slammed shut. Jacob had to open it and sprint down the apartment complex's hallway.

"BELLA!"

Bella had already stepped into the elevator once it dinged open. But when she turned, she was forced to face Jacob sprinting toward her. Crossing her arms across her chest, Bella stared at him with as much interest as if he was a slug on the wall.

"I need to talk to you." Reaching out to stop the elevator doors from sliding to a close, Jacob stood in the middle of it. He figured the faster he'd get the words out, the better. "I . . . I'm really sorry about last night. I didn't mean to go into your room like that. I didn't think it would be like that. I'm really sorry. I promise it'll never happen again."

Jacob stopped, waiting for Bella's response – any kind of response.

But because it was morning, Bella was back to herself.

She was like a chameleon with her emotions.

It was no longer night and Bella did not have her pillows to press her face into. It was a new morning, and she had to go on with her life.

Simple as that.

Thus, Bella blinked at Jacob to demonstrate how she liked to refresh her eyes. Finally, she made a slight movement with her head. "Sorry for what?"

"What happened last night, you know – "Jacob's eyebrows came together in confusion. How could she not know what he was sorry for?

But the thing is –Jacob didn't know how to read Bella yet. He didn't fully understand the type of woman he was dealing with yet.

"What happened last night?" Bella asked him, her face making no expression whatsoever.

For a while, the two just stared at one another. Bella's beautiful face stood motionless as her eyes scanned Jacob's. There was something so enticing about her face that Jacob couldn't pull himself away from it as he tried to decipher her reply.

He stared at her face as long as she would let him – for a whole entire minute. At the moment she sighed, reaching out to press the elevator button, the thought struck him; Jacob realized why Bella was responding to his apology the way she was.

"Wait –"Jacob stopped her.

"What happened last night Jacob?" Bella repeated her question, bluntly.

". . . Anthony got drunk – that's all," Jacob said softly, conforming to her.

Bella blinked at him once. With her arms still crossed over her chest, she angled her head. "You gonna stand in the middle of the doors and stare at me for the rest of the day or what?"

Taking a step out of the elevator, Jacob understood. Nodding his head, he told her before the elevator doors dinged to a close, "Have a good day."

Bella's lips curled into a victorious smile at him. "Help Anthony pick up every last petal, will you?"

*** * * * **

"I promise it'll never happen again."

Even when the Mercedes strolled into its usual parking lot, Bella didn't cut off the engine right away. Instead, she let it run for a while as she stared at the wall.

It was only morning, and yet she felt drained. As hard as she tried, she couldn't get Jacob 's face out of her mind.

Why was it that the kid seeing the pictures of her and Edward was bothering her so much?

He was just Anthony's friend.

A kid.

A kid she was allowing to temporarily live in her house.

Over and over Bella tried to rationalize with herself. After crying herself to sleep last night, she had woken up angry in the morning.

Bella had considered it – dreamed it.

She wanted to run into his room, toss his clothes into his stupid duffel bag, and hurtle him out of her house. She would curse at him, stab him, and demand that he never get in her sight again.

But something . . . something stopped her. Every time she thought of how he would react, Bella couldn't escape the fact that Jacob's apology brought with it a sense of sincerity she had never heard from an apology.

She could tell it in his eyes. He had truly meant his apologies, unlike so many people who had said sorry to her before. Something about Jacob made Bella forgive him.

She couldn't understand why he was so special he was allowed to escape her wrath, but she let him.

Staring down at her hands on the steering wheel, Bella bit her lower lip in anger. But he still saw it. A stranger he might be, but he still saw it.

"Fuck it," Bella mumbled, finally extracting her keys out of the ignition. As the engine to her car died, she threw open the driver's door. Even when she remembered that she had locked her bedroom door this morning before going to work, Bella still felt angry that she had been so careless before.

He had seen it. No one was suppose to see it. No one was suppose to know she never got over it.

"Fuck it. Forget it. It's over. It's done with," chanting to herself, Bella forced herself to brush away Jacob's face. Getting out of her car, she headed to the store – ready to start her day, and once again – erasing unpleasant memories.

Bella could always depend on work to distract her from her personal life.

And just like that, Bella forced herself into work the only way she knew how. Just to forget her personal problems, she put up front after front – numbing her pain.

**** * ***

By the time everything was done, Bella stepped outside of the store to see the night sky glinting up down at her. She turned back to say goodbye to employees who were leaving and made small talk with the Chanel representative, an old Caucasian man; Bella finally headed back to the parking lot thirty minutes later.

She was walking so fast that she almost didn't see the tiny box perched on the hood of her car. But Bella stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the words shimmer underneath the moonlight: Tiffany & Co.

Stretching out her hand, Bella latched onto the box. Once she lifted it up, she saw the note attached to the side.

Flipping it up, Bella squinted as she read: _I saw this & thought of you. Don't forget our date tonight at Les Deux –Mike.  
_  
"What is he doing?" Bella mumbled, lifting up the lid of the small box.

The blue diamond-drop necklace immediately winked up at Bella from inside its place.

To put it simply, she had had enough.

*** * * * **

Stepping into the dimmed bar, Bella was glad she wore her contacts – otherwise, she would've been blind as a bat inside such a dark place. Adjusting the strap of the LV purse on her shoulder and shuffling the Chanel bag, Bella followed the long strip of glass, gleaming with yellow lighting as it wound around the entire bar.

Quiet chattering and quaint house music surrounded her as other occupants in the upscale bar lounged at classic tables or bar. There were two bartenders, dressed in uniform, roaming the large granite countertops on patrol. Behind them, the large shelves stacked with every type of alcoholic drink invented by man – ready to be mixed and abused.

Bella's heels clicked all the way towards Mike when she finally stopped him at the end of the bar. He was concentrating on his Blackberry; the something-million Rolex on his right wrist glistened at Bella as she came closer.

"We didn't go shopping together, did we?" Sliding into the stool next to him, Bella noticed how their outfits matched one another.

Mike glanced up; his face lit as his lips parted into a smile. Placing everything on hold, he turned to face her. Scanning Bella up and down, he realized they did match too well.

With Bella still in her business suit, Mike was wearing a black suit with white dress shirt.

"You look gorgeous," Mike commented, getting up from his seat to place a small kiss on her cheek. When he settled back in his seat, Mike extended an arm around the back of Bella 's stool.

The move was quite possessive, but Bella still leaned into him. Smiling, she replied, "You don't look so bad yourself."

"I try." Mike smirked. Picking up his dainty, multi-faceted alcoholic glass, Mike grazed it across his lips before he asked casually, "So . . . you haven't been answering the texts on my phone. Did you like the roses?"

"What would you like ma'am?" The bartender with the blonde streaks breezed by, quick to take up the order.

"A martini please." Bella flashed him a smile.

When the bartender left, she turned to Mike and responded, "I'm allergic to roses."

Mike didn't flinch one-bit. Instead, he let out a low chuckle. "I knew I shouldn't have them scented."

Bella nodded. "You should've just left them naturally. Once they're tainted, they lose their authenticity."

For a moment, the two went quiet. The quiet chatter and soft music around them set such a tone that it would be tainted if the right conversation wasn't struck.

Occasionally, Bella would glance up to see Mike staring back at her. As much as she wanted to get inside his mind, she wasn't going to let him know that he had her extremely curious.

"Your martini, miss." The bartender came back, promptly placing the glass along with a small bill in front of her.

Reaching out before Bella could grab it, Mike offered, "I got it."

It broke the chilling ice set by the first set of conversation. Mike raised up his glass, prompting Bella to do the same. The two smiled, as if they had known each other all their lives, toasting to something like an inside-joke.

"To roses and the impending commitment question," Mike said, watching Bella's eyes reflecting from his glass.

Nodding her head in a swift motion, Bella agreed. "Cheers."

"Cheers." Mike smiled.

Bringing her martini glass up to her lips, Bella allowed the liquid to seep down her throat – sporadically burning the walls of her throat. Her mind was just a complete mess, but it seems as though spending time with Mike was only making it worse.

"So, you've been busy with work?" Noticing her expression, Mike leaned in closer, engulfing her in the conversation.

Bella, never shy of physical closeness, didn't move her posture. Instead, she averted her eyes right into his.

Staring at the guy she had had so much lust for on their supposed one-night stand, Bella remembered the reason why.

Mike was all charisma; Mike was all attention and giving; Mike was all hot and a bag-of-chips. But Mike was also a no-good player. But in the moment, she was drawn to him like a moth to flame.

"Yeah. You too?" Bella asked.

"Too busy. I would've shown up to give you those things myself, but I thought indirectly giving them to you means more. You know – absence makes the heart grow fonder." Mike smiled at her.

Letting out a low chuckle, Bella took another sip of her martini.

"Why are you laughing?" Mike nudged her with his shoulder, leaning in closer to her. He stared into her face, forcing her eyes to meet his.

Bella broke into a subtle smile. "Because you're funny."

"What can I say? I should've been a stand-up comedian instead of a club owner," Mike agreed. "I heard it's easier to get chicks that way."

"Rather than buying them, right?" Taking the chance for a shot, Bella didn't hesitate.

Mike shook his head right away. "No. I only buy things for a girl that I think is worth it – a girl that deserves my attention."

Raising an eyebrow, Bella smirked. "I deserve your attention?"

Lowering his head, Mike replied, ". . . and more."

It was the perfect timing.

Withdrawing herself from Mike, Bella dropped her gaze from his.

Reaching down to the Chanel bag she had brought in the bar with her, Bella placed it onto the counter between them. The un-opened boxes containing the two Zac Posen dresses, along with the Tiffany & Co. box she just received from Mike, were all in the gift bag.

Bella moved it closer to him to recognize. "I don't deserve any of what you bought me."

Mike withdrew from his place also, not bothering to glance at the bag. "I bought them for you."

"They're for me, but they're not for me." Bella shook her head. "I'm sorry Mike, but I can't play the game anymore. I'm too tired. You're going to have to do better than, 'I'll treat you a thousand times better than he did.' If you didn't know, I like realness. My apartment is littered with roses that are withering as we speak. If you want to be the true man, come, grab a trash bag, and help me clear it out. Otherwise, dresses and diamonds don't mean much to me. So if you want my advice, I suggest you stop trying to game a gamer."

With no witty comment to rebut, Mike kept his eyes straight ahead. "Just think of it as a friend giving you a gift then."

"I don't need anymore friends. I have so many I don't know where to turn if one of them decides to stab me in the back." With such bitterness in her voice, Bella didn't flinch one bit as she answered.

At the end of her words, Bella pushed herself away from the counter. Dipping into her purse, she pulled out a couple of bills and settles them next to her martini.

Without another glance at Mike, Bella retreated away from the bar.

Looking down at his luminous alcohol glass as she walked away, Mike picked it up to drink. In the moment the copious liquid dipped down to the very bowels of his liver, Mike didn't know whether he should laugh or get angry.

Bella was a girl that he was never ever going to predict. One minute she was all ready for him to butter up – the next minute, she was laying naked reality out in front of him, challenging him to rape it right in front of her – holding up the condom in front of his face.

As strange as the metaphor was, it made Mike realize that this was the quality that he had always hungered for in a woman. Her overwhelming zest of bluntness was not only comical, but rather stinging. He never knew what she wanted, but he sure as hell knew what he wanted.

Shaking his head, Mike settled down his drink and quickly pulled a couple of bills from inside his suit. Slamming them onto the counter top, he spun around and hurriedly followed Bella. He was not content on her leaving the way she was leaving.

"Bella!"

Walking a fast-pace, Bella focused ahead even when she heard Mike calling her name. Pushing open the doors to the bar, she stepped back out in the dark parking lot. Knowing by heart where she parked her car, Bella hurried over to her Mercedes. With the remote in her hand, she clicked the car and its lights shot up for a second.

"Wait!"

The driver's door was already open and she was ready to just jump inside and drive when –

"Let me talk to you!" Grabbing her wrists, Mike spun her around and forced her against the car when he caught up to her – rendering her under his control.

Bella gasped with surprise at his strength. Their bodies thudded against the Mercedes. Trying to loosen his grip around her wrists, Bella demanded, "Let go of me. What are you doing?!"

In the darkness of the parking lot, Mike's handsome face was shadowed, but Bella could still read his determination. He continued to hold her in place as he lowered his face closer to her.

Eye-to-eye, Mike lowered his voice to a soft, but very alluring growl. "Why are you walking away from me?"

"Because your stupid gifts make me sick," Bella, still struggling under his grip, replied. "Don't you understand it was a one-night-stand, Mike? Do you know the meaning?"

"I invented the meaning," Mike replied, holding on to her still. "But we can't be a one-night-stand and you know it."

"It's one-sided Mike, so stop trying so hard. It makes you look pathetic! I don't even like you. I don't even like being with you," Bella snapped at him.

"Liar," he growled again, dipping his head low. He forced her eyes to lock into his.

Mike's face was now so close to her that he could feel her hot breath; his lips were practically touching her lips.

"You're afraid, Bella. You're afraid that you'll like me. You're afraid that you'll like the things I do to you. You won't let yourself. You and I both know what went on in your bedroom that night. You're afraid – "

Mike didn't get to finish his words before Bella cut them off with her lips.

Shut up, Bella thought. Just shut up.

Pushing forward, she pinned her lips against his. Surprised, it took Mike a moment to realize what had happened. But when he recovered, he lowered his grip of her wrists, and eventually his hands slipped down to her waist.

Hungrily, the two kissed – pushing each other's flesh to another level of heat. Stumbling as she reached around her, Bella found the back door of the Mercedes. Once it popped open, Bella grabbed Mike by the neck and dragged him inside.

The smell of the new interior reached their noses as Bella laid on her back once Mike closed the car door behind them.

In heat, the two arched so that their lips were dead on one another – writhing and faceted.

Kissing and taking in each other scents as if they couldn't get enough of each other, Bella allowed Mike to get on top of her, enveloping his masculine frame over her fragile female one.

_What are you doing Bella?_

Busting Mike's vest and ripping off his shirt, allowing the buttons to bounce everywhere,

Bella dragged her hands over Mike's ripped chest . . . .

Loving . . . .

Mike's hands were roaming all over her body, tugging open the blouse she was wearing with ease. His hands were now on her naked, defined stomach as they came up to her lacy bra . . .

_Loving? Excuse me, did I hear you right?_

With their lips permanently dancing in-between luscious folds, Bella reached down for the zipper of Mike's pants while his hands danced against her naked thighs . . .

Yes, learning to love again.

Bella moaned as Mike's lips trailed down to her neck, suctioning and giving attention to every living cell; she grabbed a fistful of his hair as she straddled his weight on top of her.

_Learning to love? Why?_

Burying her face into his collarbone, Bella took in Mike's scent as he pushed into her.

Because this is the only way I can forget him.

_You don't want to forget Edward. You know you'll never get rid of him from your memory._

You don't understand. He promised me so many things when we were together – love, marriage, kids . . . .

_May I remind you it was your fault for believing in him? _

_Don't you know?_

_Promises, like hearts, are meant to be broken._

* * *

This is probably the saddest Bella out there in this fanfiction world.

Some scene, eh? I've love to have Bella's personality, don't you?

So, what do you think of this chapter? I'd love to hear your thoughts.


	10. Chapter 10

S Meyer owns all.

Lots to say after you read.

* * *

"We got approved!"

"WHOOT WHOOT!"

Staring down at the VIP invitation, Jacob couldn't help but grin ear-to-ear. After the physical test results were in, the national league had finally sent out its invitations. Bringing it up to the morning light, Jacob stared through the sliver engraving as it glinted: _Congratulations, Jacob Black, you are hereby invited to our exclusive annual national soccer league tryouts, only reserved for those considered as pioneers in the field of world soccer, representative of the United States of America . . ._

"MUAHAHAHA! We got this in the bag!" Anthony, who was sitting next to Jacob on the couch, squealed in delight. He was holding up the same letter, giggling like a nervous hyena. Kissing it for the thousandth time, Anthony reached out to grab Jacob's head. The two boys bumped heads in excitement, laughing as if they had conquered the world.

With the plasma screen TV blaring in the background, they still leaned forward from their place on the sofas to make toasts of congratulatory to one another.

"Three weeks is a really a long time to wait," Anthony commented, looking back at the letter. "But at least we get to train with Coach ?"

Jacob nodded, looking at his own letter. "Starting Monday –"

"We'll be famous and rich! MUAHAHAHA!" Anthony leaned his head back against the couch, letting out a piercing laugh. "Damn! I wish Bella was home. I could show her this letter and show her that I'm not wasting my time in her apartment. We'll get the hell out of here once we make the team."

Jacob nodded, folding his letter and placing it back onto the coffee table. As soon as Anthony mentioned Bella's name, he was now back down to reality. True to her words, Bella didn't come home last night. After she had left for work, she never came back to the apartment to check if Anthony and him had cleaned up the rose-petals. They did – finishing in two hours. But they couldn't do anything about the smell.

"Let's go back to visit Forks next week. I wanna show my parents and Masen this letter," Anthony suggested, kissing his letter once again.

"Yeah," Jacob agreed. "My mom and brother would love this too."

Anthony laughed, slapping Jacob's arm. "We're gonna be rich for kicking a ball around – damn!"

Jacob's facial expression dropped.

"Not like that!" Anthony burst out laughing again.

"Hahaha . . . . Whatever man. Keep that safe before you lose it." Jacob got up from his place on the couch. Extending his hands, Jacob stretched. The glass-sliding doors that led out to the balcony was opened, allowing the morning air to flood into the room – giving the place a morning-freshness feel to it. "It feels good to be alive doesn't it?"

"You know it. It's almost eight. Let's make life feel better. Let's eat breakfast." Anthony followed suit, getting up from his place as he hummed a tune underneath his breath. Turning toward the kitchen, he caught the sight of the four trash-bags they had discarded the roses in. "We gotta take these out to the trash before Bella gets home though. _Yo_."

Jacob turned just as Anthony grabbed the first two bags. Sighing, Jacob followed Anthony out of the apartment with the remaining bags.

"You don't think we'll have competition?"

"I'm sure we will, but it's more of our play ethic. Remember what coach said?"

Still in soccer mode, the two boys took the elevator down to the first floor and followed the steps around the large apartment complex. There were two large green trashcans that all residents of the apartment complex shared; it was filled already.

"You know – seriously, if we make it into the team – this is going to be our lives," Anthony was saying as Jacob finished throwing his two bags up into the air; they spun in motion before flopping with a thud into the trashcans.

Slapping his hands together, Jacob turned back to his friend, "I know. That's why it's not a joke. We really have to prepare for this."

Anthony nodded. "Well, I don't – "

Expecting Anthony to finish his sentence, Jacob paused with him. But when the pregnant pause turned out to be a long, extended silence of contraction, Jacob followed his best friend's gaze. The back of the apartment complex stretched far and long. Where Jacob and Anthony were standing, they could see the entire reserved parking space for the building. There were various cars parked there, rather than inside their intended garages.

But when the black Mercedes and red sports-car pulled into the parking lot together, the black Mercedes smoothly rolled into a parking space while the red sports-car blocked it from behind. When both cars cut off their engines, the drivers stepped out.

Bella, with her hair piled up at the top of her head, rounded around the black Mercedes. The tail of her blouse was not tucked into her neat black skirt like the way she had left the apartment yesterday; in fact, Bella looked rather sloppy-beautiful.

"We should've just taken one car." The owner of the raspy-voice stepped out from the red sports-car. His hair was also tousled, along with the white-collared shirt he was wearing over black pants. The cuffs of his shirt were rolled up high on his arm. To complete his look, he had lipstick stains at various spots on his face.

". . . Shut up." Bella wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself up into him. She let out a giggle when he leaned on her neck, playfully biting her skin. "Hahahaha . . . stop it . . . ."

Jacob felt as though something had slammed into his face at 100 miles per hour. It was the first time he heard her laugh like that – he had never seen Bella smile so brightly, displaying her perfect teeth. When she laughed, Bella looked like a completely different person. The guy that was holding onto her looked content that she was happy in his arms. Something jolted Jacob . . . .

"GROSS!" Anthony choked up suddenly, bringing Jacob out of his thoughts. Seeing his sister and her fling saying their goodbyes was nauseating. "Isn't that the dude that answered the apartment when we first came here?"

"No wonder he looks familiar," Jacob muttered under his breath, looking back at the couple. "What was his name?"

" . . . Miss? No . . . uh... something – Mike," Anthony mumbled, making a face. "Come on, let's just go in. I'm going to barf if I stay here any longer. Bella's always doing public display of affections as if she's handing out flyers."

"Haha – what?" Forcing himself to laugh as he followed his friend away from the scene, Jacob was still watching them from the corner of his eyes.

Bella and Mike were now locked in a tight, passionate goodbye kiss.

*** * * * **

Running her hands through her wet hair as she dipped her head one more time under the shower head, Bella closed her eyes. Enjoying the warmth of the shower while listening to the splattering of water, she got away from reality for a while.

_**Last night was crazy**_.  
_But fun_.

_**What are you doing with Mike**_?  
_Moving on_.

_**And you think he's the right guy**_?  
_Right guys don't exist_.

It was suppose to be a ten-minute shower, but Bella ended up lost in there for thirty minutes. Once she stepped out, the bathroom was steaming and hissing. Smelling the strong aroma of her shampoo and body wash, Bella never felt more clean in her entire life. The alarm clock by her bedside said 9:30, but she was the head-manager of _Chanel_. She could waltz in and walk out whenever she pleased, as long as she was present at the store for at least two hours during work hours – according to the new regulations passed yesterday.

Popping a piece of gum into her mouth after wrapping the bathrobe around her, Bella picked up her LV bag – left untouched ever since last night's escapade with Mike. Extracting her cell phone, she flipped it open to find out that she had three missed calls, collectively from Rosalie, Angela and Alice.

Allowing her wet-hair to air dry, Bella bounded down the stairs of her apartment, heading to the kitchen for some water. With her cell phone ringing Angela's number first, Bella slipped into the kitchen on barefoot to find Anthony and Jacob , once again, cooking a royal breakfast.

"Bell –" Anthony started to say when Bella signaled for him to shut up with an index finger against her lip.

While listening to the line ringing, Bella glanced at Jacob who was casually eating his plate of omelettes and bacon.

He looked up and saw her looking at him; Jacob smiled.

Bella blinked at him before turning back to the fridge for water bottle.

"Hell . . . o?" Angela's voice finally came over the line once she picked up. "Bella?"

"Yeah, what's up? You called me last night?" Bella asked, lifting herself off the ground and settling near the sink counter. Dangling her foot over the counter edge, Bella held out the unopened water bottle to Jacob, who was sitting closest to her.

He leaned forward, taking the water bottle. Twisting it with ease, Jacob handed Bella back the opened water bottle.

"Yeah, why didn't you pick up? Rosalie and Alice called too but you didn't answer. We thought something was wrong until we realized you must've had a date," Angela replied, letting out a laugh.

Swallowing a mouthful of water as she tipped her head back, Bella gurgled, "Sorgie, ishwasbursy."

"What?"

Clearing her mouth, Bella repeated, "I was busy."

"Oh . . . well, do you have work today? We're all gonna stop by the Sohoarea for lunch around 1:00. Can you get out of your managing duties for an hour to chill?" Angela asked. "Rosalie wants to talk more about the wedding plans as if the _other _day wasn't _enough_."

"Yeah, I'll be in for work. I'll call you guys."

"Alright, see you later babe."

"Bye."

Hanging up her cell phone, Bella looked up to see Anthony and Jacob silently eating their breakfasts.

"Why are you two always eating? I thought athletes were suppose to watch their weight," Bella commented.

"It's all a part of our dieting," Anthony answered while he ate.

Feeling a tinge of sister-guilt, Bella stared at the two teen boys she had been neglecting ever since they came to her place.

She really was in no place of her life to take care of them because she had her own busy, complicated, and random life to deal with first.

Not to mention she was going through her whole Bipolar mentality. But it still didn't stop the fact that she felt guilty for not thanking them for how clean her place now looked.

Bella may be a bitch, but she was a bitch with manners.

"Thanks for cleaning up." That caused the boys to look up at her in surprise. "You know – the roses. I told the guy not to do anything like that again."

Anthony broke out into a low chuckle. "Are you dating that guy?"

Bella narrowed her eyes at him.

"Sorry, the no-question rule." Anthony made a motion as if to zip up his mouth.

Shifting her place on the counter, Bella pressed forth. "For the next couple of weeks, I'm going to be really busy. My friend Rosalie is getting married next weekend. I have work. I have people to see. I won't be around much. So . . . what are you two doing?"

Anthony looked at Jacob first before the two answered in unison, "Soccer practice."

Bella nodded. "I saw your approval letters. Congratulations."

"Aww, Bella," Anthony broke out in another cheesy grin. "Why didn't you say anything?! Aren't you proud of me?"

"Let's not throw a party until you make the team 'kay?" Bella knew how to stop her brother before he started gushing like a teen girl after watching a chick-flick. Shifting her gaze over to Jacob, Bella asked, "What are you planning to do until then?"

"We told you, soccer practice. Hitting the gym. Practicing," Anthony insisted.

Bella glanced over at Jacob again. When he realized she was waiting for him to confirm, Jacob nodded. "Definitely."

Shifting her gaze back to Anthony, Bella said, "I'm not stupid Anthony. You two are 19. I know you drank until you threw up the other night Anthony. Did I not tell you I'm not gonna accept shit like that at my place? If anyone's coming home drunk and throwing up, it should be me and not you. I'm not trying to be mom and dad and try to control your life, but you better not act up and concentrate on what you're promising me you're concentrating on. You gotta remember that I'm grown and independent. It's not fun for me to have my brother living with me. But I'm a nice sister, so I'm letting you stay here."

"Aww, come on Bella – we haven't even done anything!" Anthony argued.

"Anthony," Bella closed her eyes as she sighed. "This is a prelude talk. I know you two are just settling in my place. But you cannot tell me that all you're gonna do while you're here is practice for soccer and hitting the gym. I'm just giving you this speech so that you'll know what's going to happen if I come home and find my apartment in ruins or something. I know you two are respectful and nice, but I don't trust easily so – "

"Maybe you should learn how to trust, Bella." Jacob didn't know why he spoke up, but the words fell out of his mouth before he could stop it.

" . . . He didn't mean that – Jacob!" Anthony nudged his friend by the elbow. "What are you doing?"

Jacob never took his eyes off of Bella. "We've been nothing but nice and respectful to your place ever since we've moved in here. Don't you think it's unnecessary for this prelude talk?"

Pursing her lips together, Bella tilted her head to the side the whole time Jacob was talking.

_No wonder Alice would be willing to leave her Seth for you_. He was more adorable when he was serious. Running a hand through her hair, Bella lifted herself off of the kitchen counter.

Anthony was silently making a whimpering face; he just knew that any moment now, Bella was going to explode and scream for the two of them to get out of her place. He could not _believe_ Jacob was going to get them kicked out of the only place they could stay at in New York!

Instead, Bella, true to her style of spontaneity and random personality, strolled over to where Jacob was sitting. A little cautious of what she was going to do, he followed her every moment with his eyes. He tried to appear calm, but inside his mind was racing with thoughts.

"Alice's right. You _are_ cute." As simplistic as the words were, it took Jacob a while to realize what was going on. With a quick swipe of her right hand, Bella cupped his cheeks when she walked by him. Her smell still lingered even after she left him, _breathless_, strolling out of the kitchen.

Bella was clear into the hallway when she heard Anthony let out the breath he had been holding. "Alice thinks you're cute? What the Fuck! Bella's on medication. I just know it. My sister has to be on medication. She's crazy. You saw that right? One minute she's giving me a lecture and the next she's telling you you're cute. She's got to be dropping pills."

Ignoring how Anthony rationalized her behavior, Bella had never excused her bluntness in the past two years. There was something about that Jacob.

He didn't let her get away with her bull. Even after seeing that drawer, he didn't say one word but, 'sorry' to her. Jacob's face was swimming in front of Bella right now. His large eyes and flawless, boyish face was swimming around in her thoughts, accompanied with his words, "Maybe, you should learn to trust, Bella."

Bella liked the way he said Bella.

*** * * * **

"Promise me you'll be at my house this Saturday at exactly 2:00 for the dress rehearsals."

"Well – I might be busy with recording . . . ."

"Actually, Seth might make me late because – "

"PROMISE!"

"PROMISE! Geez."

Even from where she was, Bella could still hear Rosalie badgering Alice and Angela into the promise. The lunch district in _Soho_ was crowded with so many teenagers that Bella could hardly recognize her three best friends sitting smack-dab in the middle. Making her way closer to them with the tray of coffee in her hands, Bella glanced down at her outfit.

"There's our other member!" Angela sat up in the chair she was slouching on when she saw Bella coming with the coffee. Pointing at Bella's outfit, the rest of the girl's laughed.

"Hey, did you guys have a dress code I didn't know about?" Alice groaned, reaching forward to get her cup of coffee first.

Bella, Angela and Rosalie all donned black shirts over dark blue jeans. Alice was the only one wearing a bright pink shirt over a mini-skirt. While the rest of her friends looked their age in sophistication, Alice looked as though she was president of the Girl Scouts.

"No. Hahaha, we couldn't get through to Bella last night," Angela answered truthfully, settling her cup of coffee next to the chicken salad she was having for lunch.

"You okay Bella?" Rosalie was already drinking her cup of coffee while watching Bella through avid eyes.

Taking a seat next to Rosalie, facing Alice and Angela,Bella managed a small smile at them. "I'm good. I just got caught up with things at work."

"I figured. It's not like you to not answer your phone." Alice settled back into her chair. "Anyways, it was Rosalie's idea to meet _again_."

"I just want to make sure I can pull of this wedding," Rosalie explained, looking back at Bella. "I'm just really stressed out and I want to make sure you three all show up for the dress rehearsals this Saturday. It's not enough to just talk to you guys over the phone; we're all so busy so I just wanted to get us all out here before Saturday."

"You shouldn't be stressed out. You got the three best bridesmaids there can ever be," Bella tried assuring her. "Your wedding is going to be the way you want it – if not more."

"Yeah Rosalie. Stop stressing. You're supposed to be the most mellow out of the four of us. It's seriously scaring us you're going crazy over this whole thing," Alice chimed in.

"It'll be the most wonderful day of your life, we promise," Angela added, flashing a smile. "Trust me."

"Aww, you guys!" Rosalie gushed, breaking into giggles.

"Alright, no more wedding talk for the rest of lunch," Angela waved her hand, looking around the lunching area.

"Can I have a piece of your chicken?" Picking up her fork, Alice leaned over Angela's salad, poking at various pieces.

"You didn't get lunch Bella?"Rosalie went back to eating the salad she was eating, glancing at Bella's place only to see her holding the cup of tasteless coffee.

Shaking her head, Bella stuck to her coffee.

"I need to talk to you about something," Rosalie said, lowering the frequency of her voice so that Alice and Angela, who were immersed in talking about which part of the chicken salad was most healthy, wouldn't hear her.

Arching up an eyebrow, Bella didn't know what Rosalie could possibly be so secretive about. "What is it?"

"Later." Rosalie shook her head, flashing Bella a bright smile.

"So are you still matching us with Emmett's buddies?" Angela broke away from the chicken conversation with Alice to ask Rosalie.

"Yeah, would you mind if Seth was my partner? I'd feel pretty uncomfortable being paired with a guy I don't know," Alice said.

Rosalie shook her head. "Sorry guys, but Emmett _really_ wants his friends to be a part of the wedding too. We both compromised."

"Partners? You mean – bridesmaids are being paired with groomsmen?" Bella shifted in her seat, looking back at Rosalie. Of all the things they've talked about for the wedding, she couldn't believe Rosalie had left out this little detail.

"That's what they do at weddings Bella,"Angela let out a laugh, exchanging glances with Alice. "We talked about this last time remember?"

Obviously Bella didn't. "Who am I being paired with?"

"Mike." In unison, all three of her friends answered.

"Mike's a pretty cool guy," Rosalie added, oblivious to the fact that Bella knew _all_ that about Mike and _more_. "I heard you guys been hanging out?"

Alice diverted her gaze back to her coffee while Angela looked up at the sky. Nothing was ever secretive among their group – Bella knew that. But it still didn't stop her from feeling a little agitated due to the fact that her friends were making assumptions about her and Mike. So Bella decided to drop the bomb on them, quick and clean.

"We're considering dating."

"Puh-"  
"WHAT?!"  
"WHEN?!"

Alice, who was in the midst of drinking her coffee, spitted it out on the table. Angela almost fell back in her chair. Rosalie's jaw dropped to the table. Six eyes stared at Bella in utter surprise. She blinked back at her friends. Bella had anticipated a reaction – similar to the one she got – but was still taken aback by the looks on her their faces.

"You – what did you say?" Angela was the first to speak. "Dating?"

Bella nodded. "Thanks to Alice's advice." Reaching out Bella placed a hand on a Alice that looked as though she'd rather not take all the credit.

"You two left out that little detail," Rosalie told Angela and Alice.

"We didn't know!" They replied in unison.

"You really are?" Rosalie turned back to Bella.

Bella shrugged, taking a sip of her coffee. Licking her lips, she smiled at them. "It's a consideration."

"FUCK – she really does have a boyfriend!" Angela gasped, pointing at Bella's face. "Damn it! I'm the only single one now."

". . . That's not a good idea. I didn't know you two were thinking of getting serious." Rosalie ruined the otherwise normal mood of the conversation. She looked rather worried when she looked at Bella. "Are you serious?"

Looking at Alice and Angela, Bella looked back at Rosalie. ". . . Why? What's wrong?"

Rosalie cleared her throat, looking around at her three friends.

It seemed rather apparent they did not know at all.

After all, she was the one that had been trusted with the secret about Mike. To quickly recover from her mistake, Rosalie forced a smile on her face. "I mean - you're moving on? That's great!"

"Hahahaha," Alice threw her head back as she laughed.

"Isn't someone a little slow," Angela drawled.

Although Rosalie had successfully managed to throw Alice and Angela out of the loop, she didn't fool Bella. She was about to say something but had stopped herself. Bella took note of it.

After all, she was the expert at dissecting people's words and body languages. What someone says isn't always what they mean.

"Anyways, you'll never guess what happened to me yesterday. So I -"

What a weird group they were.

For the rest of lunch, Alice and Angela took turns striking up conversations involving stories and other crazy inputs. But around two, when the lunch court finally started clearing, Alice and Angela followed suit. It was the end of their little get-together, and it was time to go back to _life_.

"Yah, you're not going?" Aliceturned back to see that Rosalie hadn't followed her and Angela.

Shaking her head, Rosalie inclined it towards Bella. "I need to talk to Bella about something."

Angela narrowed her eyes; her lips forming a smile. "If you want to ask about sex, _virgin_, you need to talk to me and Alice. Bella keeps her secrets."

"Hahaha, shut up!" Alice slammed her Gucci bag into Angela's left shoulder.

"OW! That hurt bitch!" Angela exclaimed rubbing her shoulder as she pouted.

"That's for Bella. SHIT – I'm sorry. Damn this thing sure is light." Alice linked her arm through Angela's. "Come on, just leave them alone. Aren't you already ten-minutes late to the studio? You need to drop me off first though."

"Car-pooling with you is one big pill," Angela grumbled, trying to shake Alice off.

"Bye guys!" Rosalie waved to the two of them as they walked away.

"You two are crazy," Bella commented at them.

Laughing, Angela winked at Bella while Alice blew kisses at Rosalie. For a while, Rosalie and Bella sat still in their chairs, watching their two counter-parts walking away.

Sometimes Bella wished she could be as outrageous as Angela and Alice when they were together. They always had fun even while acting nothing short of two-blondes. It had always been Rosalie and Bella who were the most calm as a two-some.

"What did you need to talk to me about?" Bella was the first to start the conversation, seeing how anxious Rosalie seemed. She was twiddling her thumb on the table – a habit she always had.

Rosalie smiled at Bella, shifting in her chair. But, she wasn't fooling Bella. Rosalie looked absolutely uncomfortable. Taking note of Bella's quietness, Rosalie paused. "Well . . . ."

Out of all the friends Bella had, Rosalie was the hardest to read. Because the others had always been loud and outrageous, it was easy to depict their personalities. Rosalie was always quiet, shy, and nice – _everything _that Bella used to be.

Sighing, Bella glanced at her cell phone clock. In about five minutes, she would have to return back to the _Chanel _store for work. "Is it about your wedding?"

Rosalie started to shake her head, but then decided to change her mind half-way.

Letting go of her thumbs, Rosalie sat back in her chair. The afternoon sun was beaming down on the two friends; both equally beautiful in their own ways.

However, compared to Bella, Rosalie was much more innocent and untainted. She had never had a friend backstab her; she had never had a boyfriend leave her for that friend. Rosalie had never suffered the way Bella had, either physically or mentally. She never carried secret after secret.

Maybe that's why she couldn't fully understand how much her impending request was going to hurt Bella.

" . . . My wedding," Rosalie started.

Bella reached over, ready to finish the rest of her coffee when Rosalie started to tear-up. "What is it? Rosalie."

"I'm sorry," Rosalie apologized, wiping the corners of her wet eyes. "I – I just don't even know how to start this conversation. I thought of going it over with Alice and Angela first, but I realized I shouldn't go to any other person besides you first. _Gosh_, I told myself not to cry."

Bella watched one of her best friend's just crumble into a pile of emotional mess. Obviously what she wanted to say wasn't easy – otherwise she wouldn't be the way she was. "Rosalie, if you're stressing about your wedding –"

Rosalie shook her head, reaching out to grab Bella's hands into her own. Giving them a small squeeze, Rosalie found it hard to face Bella's eyes. She took a deep breath and then forced the words out of her mouth. ". . . You, Alice and Angela are the only bridesmaids I want because we practically grew up together. I still remember the days we used to talk about our dream weddings and having kids – _all _that girl stuff. I can't believe I'm the first one out of all of us to get married. I love you guys so much, and you mean everything to me."

Bella's curiosity meter was slowly rising as she watched Rosalie's face display distress, fear, and sadness at the same time. "Emmett and I decided to keep the wedding small. About 150 people and –"

Somewhere in-between the speech Rosalie had prepared, Bella was no longer paying attention.

Bella already understood what Rosalie was going to say before she even said it.

"You want to invite Jessica." Without building a momentum, the words came out of Bella's mouth before she realized it did.

She, _herself_, could not believe she had said it. The recognition came before Bella was ready to acknowledge it.

The first tears fell from Rosalie's eyes, bouncing down her cheeks at Bella's confirmation. Placing a hand over her mouth, Rosalie looked at Bella with un-imaginable guilt. ". . . I haven't invited her or anything yet, but I –"

Seeing Rosalie cry was what did it for Bella. Reaching out, Bella pulled Rosalie into her arms so that Rosalie couldn't see her own face.

"Bella," Rosalie sobbed, clinging to Bella's shoulders.

Even though it was tearing Rosalie apart to even ask, Bella was feeling more pain than her exterior appearance was allowing her to show. Most of it was because this was Rosalie's wedding, and she was caught in the crossroads of two-friends war. Rosalie didn't know it, but Bella felt her hurt too – if not _more_.

"Yah, why are you crying? There's nothing to cry about." Bella had to force herself to be the stronger of the two. Patting Rosalie's sobbing shoulders, Bella held her close. ". . . It's your wedding Rosalie. It's your day. You do whatever you need to do."

Breaking away from Bella, Rosalie placed both hands on her tear-stained cheeks. "I – I just feel like a such a selfish person for even asking you because of what happened between you guys. The whole situation was just heartbreaking and it's been nearly three years. But when I heard she's back in town , I – she's Jessica to me. Bella – please don't hate me."

Shaking her head, Bella reached up to wipe away Rosalie's tears. "I won't hate you. It's your wedding. It's your day. You do what you need to. It was years ago. I'm fine. I'll _be_ fine."

Bella had never lied _more_ in her life.

* * *

What would YOU have done in that situation? Personally, I'll probably be so hurt that I can't think straight. But it has never happened to me before, so I have no idea how I'd feel.

_Heartbreaking._

Yes! There's a deeper connection between Mike and Bella. If you're smart enough, you'll probably figure it out.

Review and tell me what you think!


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